Between The Lines - Ralph Nader: Campaign to Raise the Federal Minimum Wage (Week Ending March 29, 2013)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

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Ralph Nader Campaigns to Increase Federal Minimum Wage to 1968 Level

RealAudio MP3

Posted March 20, 2013

Interview with Ralph Nader, citizen activist and former independent presidential candidate, conducted by Scott Harris

On a bright winter morning, citizen activist and four-time independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader gathered with 12 other people in front of the Walmart store in Torrington, Conn. The Connecticut native, who grew up in nearby Winstead, organized the Walmart picket to kick off a national grassroots campaign to demand an increase in the federal minimum wage. Although President Obama during his Feb. 12 State of the Union address called for a rise in the minimum wage from the current $7.25 to $9.00, indexed to inflation, Nader says that moving to a $10.50 minimum wage should be the goal to catch up with the actual value of the minimum wage in 1968.

Nader points out that while Walmart CEO Mike Duke makes about $11,000 an hour, 30 million American workers who earn the minimum wage are losing ground, a symptom of growing income inequality across the nation. According to the AFL-CIO, top executives at America’s largest corporations made 42 times the pay of the average worker in 1980, but now CEOs are earning 343 times the average worker’s wage.

On March 15, Republicans who control the House of Representatives unanimously voted down an amendment to legislation that would have raised the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. Adding to the debate, newly-elected Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, citing a 2012 study, asserted that if wages were tied to productivity, the minimum wage today would be $22.00 an hour. Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Ralph Nader about his campaign to raise the minimum wage – and the pros and cons cited by supporters and opponents in the national debate on the proposal.

RALPH NADER: Well you know, (President) Obama put forth $9 an hour by 2015. (Rep.) George Miller (D-Calif.) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), they've put forth $10.10 by 2016. It's like, people can wait? I mean, these companies have been getting windfalls last year, with shrinking real wage and now they want to make people who serve us, people who take care of our children, take of our ailing grandparents and clean up after us, who grow our food – they want them to wait until 2016?

No. We got to in effect get moving. Now we have exact materials you need to put the pressure on Congress, it's all on Congress or your state legislature. Put the pressure. Just go to TimeForaRaise.org. That's a really easy one to remember. TimeForaRaise.org and it's got form statements and form letters if you want. Spice it up. Give it your own distinctive language, and let's go.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Ralph, you know in our media system, we constantly hear opposition to a rise in the minimum wage. And they say that an increase in the minimum wage will hurt job creators, slow down the economy, trigger layoffs or a freeze in hiring, penalize teenagers and entry-level workers. I know you've got a response for that.

RALPH NADER: They got some nerve. They certainly don't talk about laying off workers because they're paying their bosses tens of millions of dollars a year. Major economic studies show one,tthere's not overall job loss, there's a net job increase. Why wouldn't there be? Tens of billions of dollars in additional money being spent in the marketplace in stores for the necessities of life of these working poor in America. And that's gonna create jobs overall.

So, it's a job increase. (A higher minimum wage is) an economic stimulus without a tax increase. There'll be less reliance on government relief programs because people would be able to earn more money. Walmart actually has an advisory service showing its underpaid workers how they can get earned income tax credit, how they can get food stamps, how they can get all kinds of relief. Can you imagine the nerve? So if they get more wages, there's less pressure on those programs and finally, the more you get paid, the more you put into Social Security and Medicare.

So, it's a win all over, all around. And that's what Costco's CEO – I talked to him the other day – and he was very clear. He said, "I believe in good wages. We have less employee turnover. We have happier employees. We have more productive employees and we start them at $11.50 an hour plus benefits." And that's a Big Box store.

Now a lot of people don't know this: Almost two-thirds of low-income workers are employed by 50 large corporations whose brand name we know. Burger King, K-Mart, Walmart and so on, McDonald's. And the average CEO pay of those companies, the boss? Over 10 million bucks a year.

Now there are small businesses, but small businesses are defined by the federal government as up to 500 employees. That's some small business, huh, Scott? What we're seeing here is that no one will be able to use the minimum wage as a competitive thing, because all businesses, all employers will have to raise it. Some workers in some real small businesses may be laid off. But some of these workers who may be laid off will just go and get the extra jobs that are being produced because of more sales. Henry Ford had that figured out in 1914, when he doubled the wage of his auto workers from 2.50 to 5 bucks. He said, "Hey, I want more customers. We gotta pay them more if we're going to get more customers for our cars."

BETWEEN THE LINES: What are you doing to connect with different groups all around the country to push forward this campaign? To pressure Congress for an increase in the minimum wage?

RALPH NADER: Well, we want to get the labor unions moving. The AFL-CIO has been sitting on its duff hardly doing anything. They've got the money to put some good TV and radio ads on. Look what they do during the campaign for the Democrats. Tens of millions of dollars. So SEIU, the AFL-CIO, United Auto Workers and so on, they ought to do that. And they ought to get their locals filling those town meetings in April or, and there's a recess of course, in May. And there's a big congressional recess in August, the whole month. So there's plenty of opportunity to fill those seats at these town meetings.

Ralph Nader's latest book is titled, “The Seventeen Solutions: Bold Ideas for Our American Future.” Find more information on Nader’s minimum wage campaign at timeforaraise.org.