Vice President Joe Biden speaks with politicians and business owners in a round-table discussion, on raising the minimum wage, at Casa Don Juan on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014, in downtown Las Vegas. Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman listens at left.
Published Monday, Oct. 6, 2014 | 10:41 a.m.
Updated Monday, Oct. 6, 2014 | 2:14 p.m.
Vice President Joe Biden is rallying support in Las Vegas today to push Congress to raise the minimum wage.
He will speak in downtown Las Vegas at 1:30 p.m. at the Casa Don Juan restaurant.
Biden’s effort to mobilize support comes with less than a month remaining before the Nov. 4 election.
Income issues, whether raising the hourly wage or closing the gender-based income inequality gap, have been a staple of the Democrat platform for the 2014 midterm elections.
Biden’s speech in Las Vegas will be an attempt to mobilize Democratic voters — especially Latinos and other minorities — for next month’s election.
Republicans are favored to take control of the Senate and gain more seats in the House, according to The Washington Post.
But Biden’s appearance is a signal that Democrats are not rolling over.
The vice president and President Barack Obama have led the charge to garner support for a wage increase from federal lawmakers this year. But Republicans have been unwilling to increase wages.
The Democratic-controlled Senate has been unable to muster 60 votes — a way to prevent a Republican filibuster — to pass legislation that would increase the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. Current law sets the minimum at $7.25 per hour.
It’s unlikely Congress will vote on a minimum wage bill before the end of the year, despite Democrats’ efforts.
Biden’s push to raise the federal minimum wage has been met by opposition from the business community, too.
The Economic Policies Institute, a conservative think tank funded by the restaurant industry, says an increase in the minimum wage would cost Nevada 5,300 jobs.
Democratic leaders say the bill would lift 900,000 out of poverty across the country, citing a February report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
On Friday, Biden spoke at a Chamber of Commerce event in Detroit and displayed his brand of unabashed public commentary. The chamber opposes a wage hike.
The vice president told the crowd at the chamber event, which included the group’s president, Tom Donohue, that it was “dead wrong” on the wage issue.
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