Ellison Pushes for Higher Minimum Wage

Fifth District Rep. Keith Ellison and the U.S. Department of Labor hosted a roundtable March 25 in order to push for an increase to the minimum wage.

Ellison has introduced a bill that would raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.

Twin Cities Daily Planet reported that Ellison and Mary Beth Maxwell, acting deputy administrator for the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, appeared moved by stories they heard from workers struggling to make ends meet.

“In my opinion, we need to link the minimum wage to the (company’s) executive wage,” the Twin Cities Daily Planet quoted Ellison. “If a company is doing well, everybody with the company should be doing well.”

Medicare Advantage

The Wall Street journal took Ellison and other Democrats to task for opposing cuts to a Medicare program that provides private insurance to seniors.

The Health and Human Services Department plans to cut Medicare Advantage even more deeply than required in the Affordable Care Act. However, 139 members of Congress, including 26 Democrats in the House and 13 in the Senate, have sent letters asking the department to reverse the cuts.

The Wall Street Journal editorial said it was ironic that liberals who support a government-run, single-payer health care system—and opposed relying on exclusively on private insurance—and now rallying to protect a private insurance program.

“Six ultra-liberal House Democrats even referred to Advantage as a ‘health-care safety net,’” the newspaper wrote. “Such language is especially notable because the letter was signed by Keith Ellison of Minnesota, who co-chairs the left-wing Congressional Progressive Caucus.”