Sen. Bernie Sanders
(Getty Images/Andrew Burton)
Arguing for an increase in the federal minimum wage, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) claimed that, if its increases had kept pace with Wall Street bonuses, it would be $44 an hour today.
Over the past 35 years, Wall Street bonuses have increased by 1,217%, while the minimum wage has been stagnant for the past 12 years, Sanders tweeted Monday evening:
“Since 1985, the average Wall Street bonus has gone up 1,217%. If the federal minimum wage had increased at the same rate as Wall Street bonuses, it would be $44/hour. Instead, it’s remained stuck at $7.25 an hour for 12 years. We must raise the minimum wage to at least $15/hour.”
On Tuesday, Sanders tweeted that wealthy people in the U.S. live longer than poor people, making poverty in the country “a death sentence”:
“Life expectancy for low-income Americans is right now about 15 years lower than for the wealthy. Poverty in the richest country in the history of the world is a death sentence.”
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