To the editor:

Fifty Republicans decided to raise minimum wage, only if Democrats agree to tax cuts. It was a decade ago, in 1996, that Congress voted to increase minimum wage. Someone working 40 hours per week at that rate makes $10,700 – below the poverty line for workers with families.

Inflation eroded the minimum wage’s buying power to the lowest level in 50 years. Lawmakers have given themselves cost-of-living increases totaling $35,000 since then.

I’m a stay-at-home dad. Following the math and mindset of our representatives, here is what I should be paid for what I do, in hours spent per week: housekeeper, day care teacher, cook, computer operator, laundry machine operator, janitor, facilities manager, van driver, CEO, psychologist and nurse. That totals $134,121 a year.

I don’t make that.

Neither do the 30 million Americans that live (I use that term loosely) on $5.15 an hour. They should be paid a real living wage, just like our poor, overworked representatives in Washington give themselves every year.

You do the math.

Steve Craven,

Lawrence