Manchin: All 100 Senators Want to Raise the Minimum Wage

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that all 100 Senators want to raise the federal minimum wage.

Manchin said, “We are going to go and do something because there is not one senator out of 100, not one that does not want to raise the minimum wage. Not one. With that said, we are going to make that happen. The $15 an hour minimum wage never felt in this reconciliation. The rules of the Senate and know that from day one. I know they made a big issue about this. I understand. everyone has their right. ”

He added, “If you go to work, you should be above the minimum guidelines for poverty line. You figure the numbers it comes out to $11. That is how I got to 11. We can do that very quickly, too, within a couple of years. Once we get to $11, it should be indexed for inflation, so it never becomes a political football again. It should be the respect and dignity of work above the minimum wage of what the guidelines for poverty is and being able to lift yourself way far above that by your skill sets and your determination. That is all we are saying and what we have been trying to work to. This is the easiest lift you will. You have that many people want to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to above the poverty guidelines. Let’s do it and let inflation take us from the standpoint of indexing it, so we never fall below that.”

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