By  CAP Action War Room

Big News on the Minimum Wage

President Obama hasn’t even taken the podium for tonight’s State of the Union address yet, but he’s already made big news when it comes to the minimum wage.

This morning we learned that the president will use his executive authority to raise the minimum wage paid by federal contractors under new contracts to $10.10 per hour. As CAP’s Neera Tanden said today, the move “will put more money in the pockets of hardworking Americans, who will spend it in their communities and help drive our economic growth.”

In addition to demonstrating the president’s commitment to creating an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few, which he recently called “the defining challenge of our time,” it underscores another theme we’re expecting to play a big role in tonight’s speech: action.

The current, Republican-controlled Congress is the least productive in history and has refused to even vote on popular items like universal background checks for gun buyers and immigration reform. Today’s announcement on the minimum wage shows that the president understands that we cannot afford to wait for a Do-Nothing Congress to help solve our country’s problems.

That said, the minimum wage is a great example of an area where a willing Congress can work with the president to immediately improve the lives of millions of Americans and help build a stronger economy with greater opportunities for all Americans. While the president’s executive action will help a lot of low-wage workers and is a major victory, Congressional action is required to raise the minimum wage nationwide.

Here are a few numbers to know about increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour:

73……the percentage of Americans who support it.

53……the percentage of Republicans who support it.

273……the ratio of the average CEO salary to that of the average worker. In 1965, CEOs made only 20 times the salary of the average worker.

$10.46……what the minimum wage would have been in 2012 if it had simply kept up with inflation since 1968.

$18.72……what the minimum wage would have been in 2012 if it had kept pace with gains in worker productivity since 1968.

$28.34……what the minimum wage would have been in 2012 if it had grown at the same rate as the wages of the top 1 percent since 1968.

$15,080……the annual earnings of a full-time minimum-wage worker at today’s $7.25 per hour minimum wage, which is $4,000 below the poverty line for a family of three.

17,000,000……the number of women, who make up approximately 2/3 of low-wage workers, whose wages would rise.

28,000,000……the number of workers whose wages would rise.

$32,600,000,000……the increase in economic activity during the period it is being phased in.

$51,000,000,000…..the increased wages that workers would earn while it is being phased in.

As you can see from these numbers, it’s well past time to raise the minimum wage for all workers. So when it comes to the president’s plan to raise the wages of federal contractors, we’re just getting started. The Senate is going to vote on a bill to raise the minimum wage for everyone, no matter where they live. It’s time for the House of Representatives to do the same.

And while we’re getting started, here are five other big ideas to help create an economy that works for everyone.

BOTTOM LINE: Raising the minimum wage will provide Americans who work hard a better opportunity to get ahead while giving the economy a needed shot in the arm. With a higher minimum wage, workers will have more money to spend, which in turn gives businesses more customers—helping them to hire more workers. This will kick-start a growing economy that will create more opportunities for those who work hard.

Mark Woodworth spent nearly 20 years of his life behind bars for a murder he did not commit. He’s free now, but the state of Missouri wants to try him a third time.

Mark was released from prison in February 2013 after the MO Supreme Court overturned his convictions – ruling that state prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense which would likely have resulted in a not guilty verdict. He was convicted not once, but twice in trials which judges deemed not worthy of confidence. But Attorney General Chris Koster has inexplicably decided to move forward on attempting to retry him for a third time.

As a law student researching Mark’s case, I know that the state’s case against Mark has no merit, this travesty persists and Mark’s life is still not his own.

On November 13, 1990, in Chillicothe, MO, Cathy and Lyndel Robertson were shot in their own home. Cathy was killed but Lyndel survived and when asked by authorities who could have killed his wife and attacked him, a hospitalized Lyndel Robertson initially named his daughter’s ex-boyfriend, Brandon.

Only 12 hours after the shooting police found Brandon and his hands tested positive for gunshot residue. He had also stashed a duffel bag in the trunk of a woman’s car while staying at her apartment in the days after the killing. In the trunk, investigators discovered four .22-caliber bullet casings, the same kind used in the Robertson home.

Then attention turned to Mark Woodworth who was 16 at the time and lived with his parents across the road from the Robertsons. Lyndel Robertson and Mark’s father were partners in a farming operation, though they had falling out.

A corrupt private investigator was hired by Roberston who was being sued by Mark’s father at the time. This investigator had previously been forced to resign his position as a detective when the FBI produced information that he was “promoting prostitution.” To build a case against Mark, he conspired with a politically ambitious Deputy to sneak the entire Sheriff’s investigative file from the Sheriff’s office and to keep his involvement a secret from the Sheriff and honest members of the Highway Patrol.

After the Missouri Supreme Court vacated Mark’s convictions last January, the Missouri Attorney General announced that they would seek a 3rd trial, even though the new judge assigned has excluded almost all of their so-called “evidence” based on the bogus investigation and the “especially odious” conduct of the private investigator.

Mark is trying to move on – he is now married and helps run his family company, Woodworth Manufacturing, which makes custom-made trailers of all sizes and allows him to use welding skills he learned in prison. Please sign my petition and ask Attorney General Koster to stop going after an innocent man.

CAP Action War Room

Time for An Economy That Works for Everyone

Ahead of tomorrow’s State of the Union address, public polling finds strong support for creating an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few – and that means the creation of more good jobs, more opportunity for those who work hard, and everyone having an opportunity to succeed. Americans understand that income inequality is real – and a real problem.

Here’s what we know Americans believe:

• Americans believe both the economy and the government are working for the wealthiest few and not everyone else.

• Americans believe we can and should pursue policies to create an economy that works for everyone.

• Americans support progressive economic policies that build a strong economy:

• Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour enjoys widespread, bipartisan support: 73 percent, including more than half of Republicans.

• Extending emergency unemployment benefits also enjoys widespread, bipartisan support: 65 percent, including 65 percent of Independents.

• 54 percent believe we should increase taxes on the wealthy and corporation specifically to expand programs for the poor. By contrast, only 35 percent believe that “lowering taxes on wealthy people to encourage more investment and economic growth” would do more to reduce poverty.

• Americans believe that that we must take action to combat poverty and extend ladders of opportunity to those striving to enter the middle class.

• Americans reject conservative arguments of the nature of wealth and poverty in America, namely that the poor are poor because they are lazy or make bad decisions. A majority of Americans also believe that the rich are rich are because of advantages they had, not hard work.

President Obama spoke about these issues last month at the Center for American Progress, calling them the “defining challenge of our time,” and we expect him to address them tomorrow night as well.

For more on what Americans really think about the economy, you can check out our full roundup of recent polling HERE.

BOTTOM LINE: Americans understand that the economy is not working for everyone, support action to increase opportunities for everyone to get ahead, and support the concrete policy proposals that progressives are advocating.