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[audio src=”https://www.peterbcollins.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Lessinger.mp3″]Jesse Lessinger is National Organizer for 15Now.org and just won a campaign in Seattle to raise the minimum wage to $15. We talk about the needs of working families and the failure of Democrats to champion those needs.Click here for free audiobook download from Audible, and earn $15 for the PBC Podcast!
While wages for most Americans have not increased in recent years, many new costs have been shifted to workers, including health insurance, pensions, and college expenses. Like 2006, Democrats are using the minimum wage to draw voters to the midterm elections, and Lessinger makes the case that their $10.10 proposal is an improvement, but not a living wage. We also talk about the big picture, as Capital rules this era: the 1% and corporations continue to benefit at the expense of workers. While “socialism” is demonized by the right, Lessinger argues that economic justice is badly needed, and that he prefers to call himself a socialist than to shrink from the often-maligned tag.