Bernie Sanders: If the economy is 'roaring', why are so many Americans still struggling?
On Monday night at a town hall with low-wage workers, we will address the disparity between the wealth of executives and the wages and treatment of employees
Mon 16 Jul 2018 09.12 EDT
Excerpts:
On Monday night, at a town hall meeting that will be livestreamed, we will discuss what rarely gets seen or heard in mainstream media. And that is that despite the fact that the unemployment rate in the US is relatively low, real inflation accounted for, wages for the average American worker continue to decline and 140 million Americans lack the resources to pay for housing, food, childcare, healthcare, transportation and a cellphone without going into debt.
All over America workers are asking themselves why, if the economy is “booming”, are they forced to work longer hours for lower wages. Why, if the economy is “roaring”, are they not able to afford childcare, send their kids to college or put aside enough money for a decent retirement.
The American people also want to know why, as taxpayers, they have to subsidize and provide corporate welfare to the wealthiest and most profitable corporations in the country. How does it happen that there are major corporations in America where CEOs receive extravagant compensation packages, who pay their workers wages so low that many of them are forced to rely on food stamps, Medicaid and public housing – subsidized by taxpayers – to survive?
At the town hall meeting that will be livestreamed on Monday night on my Facebook page, we will be hearing from these workers and discussing how we can create an economy that works for all of us, not just those on top. I hope you will join us.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/16/bernie-sanders-town-hall-low-wages-amazon-mcdonalds-walmart
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