Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito are against raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Capito suggests $10 an hour, while Manchin suggests that $11 an hour is enough. We need to tell them that neither is enough. If Manchin or Capito made $11 an hour, assuming they would work a 40 hour week, it would take them 7 and ½ years to earn their current yearly salary of $174,000.00. $11.00 is not enough. 

Senator Manchin won his seat in the Senate by a margin of 19,397. We gave him the power and trust to make decisions for what is best for WV. It is time we give that power back to ourselves, and hold him accountable for the well-being of WV workers and families. Manchin has been a career politician since 1982, WV voices have given him his net worth of over $5 million. (Capito trails shortly behind with a net worth of over $3 million!) It’s time we make him listen to us. It’s time we make them both hear the cries of outrage in our West Virginia hills. 

$11 an hour, or worse $10 an hour, is not enough to live a healthy life anywhere in the US, and WV is no exception. Many of the workers in WV are in the food service and retail positions. These jobs pay minimum wage (or less) and are typically part time positions. At $11 an hour, yearly earnings would be just over $10,000.  How do Senators from a state with one of the highest poverty rates expect their constituents to become self-sufficient if they stand against a proposal that could boost so many out of poverty? West Virginians do not want a handout, we want to earn a living wage. 
Senator Manchin and Senator Capito sit in the Senate because WE put them there. Their contribution to WV is no greater than Mike’s at McDonald’s or Cheryl’s at the gas station down the road. They deserve a living wage. I deserve a living wage. YOU deserve a living wage!