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Press Releases
Seals Says Congress Should Stop Insulting American Workers
Tuesday, August 1, 2006
Wilmette, Ill. - Democratic Congressional candidate Dan Seals is calling for his opponent U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk and his fellow Republicans in Congress to stop relegating American workers to the position of runner-up in their economic policy-making.
"It is time the Republicans stopped playing politics and did something to help the embattled American worker, who has continued to lose ground during the Bush presidency," Seals said.
Responding to the House vote to attach a "poison pill" to the bill to raise the minimum wage, Seals said it was another case of putting political interests above the national interest. The House voted early Saturday morning for a bill that would raise the minimum wage by $2.10 over two years with a provision that would cut the estate tax for the wealthiest Americans.
"This vote to add a provision to cut estate taxes for the ultra rich, approximately 332 in Illinois and only about 7,500 people in the whole country, is one more political tactic and is an insult to the American people," Seals said. It all but assures a defeat for the minimum wage since the Senate has been unwilling to vote for cuts in the federal estate tax.
"At this time in history when the average CEO earns more than 800 times the minimum wage and prices for gasoline and natural gas have gone through the roof," Seals said, "the Republicans in Congress need to provide a straight-up vote to raise the minimum wage, which has not been increased since 1997." The current minimum wage is at its lowest level in 50 years.
If House Republicans were serious about raising more hard-working Americans out of poverty, they would vote for the Fair Minimum Wage Act. The current minimum wage is $5.15 an hour, which earns a full-time worker $10,700 a year, which is $5,888 below the poverty level, clearly insufficient for meeting a family's needs. The Census Bureau reports that 4 million households have fallen below the poverty line since 2001.
The 10th District Race
The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan Washington political publication, recently upgraded the 10th District race between Dan Seals and Mark Kirk to its Competitive House Race chart. In a district that has voted for a Democrat in every presidential race since 1996, incumbent Congressman Mark Kirk votes with his party 91.49% of the time (from the nonpartisan Congressional Quarterly). Additionally, Kirk holds the Republican leadership position of Assistant Majority Whip, which gives him the responsibility of enforcing party discipline and lining up members on critical party votes.
About Dan Seals
Seals lives in Wilmette with his wife, Mia, and three young daughters. Born in Chicago, he received a master's in public policy from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and served as a Presidential Management Fellow during the Clinton Administration in both the Department of Commerce and Sen. Joseph Lieberman's office. Seals went on to earn his MBA from the University of Chicago. He is currently on leave from his position as Director of Marketing at GE Commercial Finance while he campaigns full time.
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