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To the Editor:

Although United States Presidential candidates sometimes talk about various economic issues during campaign stops, they rarely mention the federal or state minimum wages.

Interestingly, former President Trump was grandstanding at a McDonald’s restaurant recently, but failed to answer reporter questions regarding the federal minimum wage, which should be called a poverty wage.

For decades, public servants, like now deceased Senator Ted Kennedy and current Senator Bernie Sanders, eloquently posited that the American people can not afford to make ends meet on poverty wages. Where do we go from here?

Many people complain about high grocery prices, expensive restaurant meals, high gas prices, exorbitant auto and homeowners insurance costs, and a host of other economic woes. Some folks have to choose between heating and eating during bitterly cold Winter months.

Moreover, the economy typically ranks as the top issue on the minds of voters. Therefore, it should behoove the presidential candidates to formulate a specific, verifiable plan to strengthen the economy, fairly tax billionaires, and put more money into the pockets of those who live on Main Street, rather than focus on those on Wall Street.

One way to put more money into the aforesaid pockets is by appreciably raising the federal minimum wage.

According to Wikipedia (Department of Labor), the federal minimum wage has been $7.25 since 2009, when Barack Obama was President of the United States. This 15-year period constitutes the longest stretch the national minimum wage has gone without an increase since the pay standard was instituted in 1938 under the New Deal of progressive President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

By the way, some states have taken the initiative to raise their own state minimum wages in substantial ways. For example, Washington State’s minimum wage is $16.28 per hour; California, $16/hour; New Jersey, $15.13/hour; New York, $15/hour. Let’s not forget the minimum wage for the District of Columbia–$17.50 per hour.

In any event, although some naysayers claim that raising the minimum wage will lead to a loss in jobs, there is a dearth of credible empirical studies to substantiate such a view.

Many US presidents have given lip service to the need to raise the national minimum wage; unfortunately, they lacked the wherewithal or will power to get it done.

Last but not least, the government should do more to help impoverished, working class citizens help themselves. President John F. Kennedy was right when he, in his Inaugural Address on January 20, 1961, elucidated, “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”

Keith W. Cooper

Greenville, NC