As the wealthy see increased profits and the poverty level rises, an extreme separation is evident between the states which have a higher level of education, and those who have a lesser number of high school graduates; these men and women find a way into state governments. In the west and Northeastern states, government officials and state’s residents recognize the facts; the rich are getting richer and the number of impoverished Americans is rising at an unforgiveable rate.

While red states in the south are legislating against an increase in minimum wage by local governments, California is nearing the passage of a provision which will increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour.

“This is not a done deal,” Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, told The Associated Press on Saturday. Leno said if an agreement is finalized, it would go before the Legislature as part of his minimum-wage bill that stalled last year.

Labor Unions and state legislators have a tentative agreement, which will raise California’s minimum wage by 50 percent; from $10 to $15.

Republican governors are in denial of many facts; one of them is income inequality. As the middle class disappears, the number of Americans living in poverty rises. A minimum wage of $7.25 per hour cannot sustain an individual in the United States, and many Americans are expected to care for a family with this meager income.

Every corporation in our nation is experiencing record profits, but few reward their employees for that success. Records show that the United States has 536 billionaires; the country closest to America is China with 213. There is no valid reason why one citizen in our nation suffers from hunger, or homelessness. There should be no poverty. It is a crime to deny an individual a livable wage.

There are few Republicans; only employees of the one-percent who are wearing the badge of the GOP. Republicans have little or no concern for those who elected them, and yet they will ask you to reelect them because they will have an ‘R’ next to their names.

I choose to live in the West where intelligent action and concern for others than ourselves is the normal way of life. We have a Republican governor in Nevada, Brian Sandoval. He supports all Nevadans. He has assisted our people by influencing companies to move to Nevada who offer well-paying jobs. His priority has been education, while some Republicans are attempting to lower funding and censor material taught to our young people.

If I was a black man or woman, a homosexual, a woman of any race, or just a rational thinking person, I would never choose to live in the south, in Texas, in Indiana, or in Arizona. (Arizona is a western state, but it’s government acts more like those in the south.)

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

Source

Photo Courtesy of Fibonacci Blue

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