Oprah Advocates Raising Minimum Wage/Universal Health Insurance

Yesterday (July 28, 2006) I watched Oprah's show on ABC focusing on raising the minimum wage and advocacy for universal health insurance/care. Oprah made her point by featuring the lives of women who were employed and earned minimum wage, demonstrating how this was not sufficient to provide all the necessities of life, concluding that action was necessary NOW to provide a LIVING WAGE, enough that people could provide adequately for themselves and their families; that also it was necessary to provide health insurance/care for everyone in America.

I was so touched by Oprah's program that I made a series of designs to promote raising the minimum wage and support of universal health insurance/care. I urge that everyone in America help in raising awareness and promoting these vital causes by purchasing these design items and displaying them pomanently in your home, school and/or place of work!

Pay Living Wage	Raise Minimum Wage	Get It Up! Raise Minimum Wage
Write Congress Raise Minimum Wage	Support Universal Health Insurance	Write Congress! Universal Health Insurance
Wipe Out Poverty

It is vital that all Americans stand up and help promote a raise in minimum wage and support on universal health insurance/care. As Oprah pointed out in her program, there are over 30 million American who earn only minimum wage. This is not enough to support an individual, much less a family! It is a disgrace that employers are paying such low wages and have to be compelled by law to provide a decent living for workers!

This is one of the great injustices which exists in America. We are spending billions and billions of dollars to fight a war on terrorism and help rebuild Iraq, yet we are not helping our own citizens taking action to wipe out poverty in America! It is critical to the quality of life, indeed, to the survival of our nation, that both states and the federal government act to immediately rectify this situation.

I join with Oprah is asking that everyone write their state representatives and members of Congress. Urge that states raise the minimum wage to a reasonable living wage, that all working Americans may earn enough to provide a good quality life for themselves and their families. Both the states need to do this as well as the federal government.

What is a reasonable living wage? Quite frankly this varies over time, especially with inflation. And do you know what, most state legislations and the US Congress regularly grant themselves pay raises but neglect doing the same with respect to the minimum wage!

The fact is no state is paying a minimum wage sufficient to enable working Americans to get out of poverty. And no state is providing universal health insurance/care for its citizens! We are one of the riches countries in the world, yet we are failing to provide over 30 million citizens with an income that will enable them to get out of poverty!

This is why I have joined with Oprah to advocate support of legislation to provide a living wage and universal health insurance/care. I have created a series of Money Ware Designs which feature $10,000.00 bills to attract attention superimposes upon a network symbolic of people coming together to support raising the minimum wage and providing all citizens with universal health insurance/care that poverty in America may be wiped out!

Wipe Out

Poverty

Please help wipe out poverty in America and insure that no child or adult goes without food, clothing or shelter. Support a living wage and universal health insurance/care!

Please share this information with everyone you know. Urge that others join in a grassroots movement to wipe out poverty in America! No child should be hungry! No child should be without health care! No child should be homeless! No child should be without clothing to keep warm! No child should be cast out of their home with their parents because employers are not providing a living wage! And this should apply equally to the parents and care providers of all children!

Raising the minimum wage and providing universal health insurance/care to every American should not be a political issue! This is not a matter of rich vs. poor. This is common sense, common human decency! Therefore I ask all Americans of common sense to support and promote a reasonable living wage and universal health insurance/care for all citizens!

Comments from all are welcome. Let's get a debate going. If you have some good ideas to share related to this issue, please speak up. If we don't take action NOW to rectify this situation, then tomorrow there will be 40, 50, 60 ... perhaps 100 million Americans in poverty!