Speaker Boehner, Sen. McConnell -- It's Time to Jumpstart the Middle Class

Speaker Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell penned an op-ed today in the Wall Street Journal highlighting their plan to (allegedly) focus on middle class Americans "frustrated by…the stagnation of wages." Unfortunately, the GOP ideas are more of the same, tired special interest first agenda we've seen for the past few years.

In the spirit of cooperation, House Democrats are calling on Republicans to work together to Jumpstart the Middle Class:

• Increasing the minimum wage for hardworking Americans.  More than 70 percentof Americansand 600 prominent economists agree that raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour is the right action to spur economic growth and stability by:

o  Increasing the wages of 25 million people;

o  Creating 85,000jobs;

o  Liftingfrom 5 to 6 million peopleout of poverty;

o  Benefitting1 million veterans;

o  Raising the wages of15 million working women;

• Providing women with equal pay for equal work, many of them co-breadwinners or the primary breadwinners in their households, who are paid only 78 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts.
• Providing paid sick leave;
• Creating jobs by making investments to build roads and bridges.

Instead of voting on GOP bills to protect millionaires and big corporations and repeal health coverage and patient protections for millions of Americans – Americans want us to come together and immediately address these priorities.