Wal-Mart Wages

Opposition to raising the minimum wage in the United States comes from companies like Wal-Mart. While the Walton family that owns the giant discount retailer is worth about $100 billion, Sen. Bernie Sanders told Chris Hayes on MSNBC that the company pays its workers so little that they must resort to Medicaid, food stamps and subsidized housing. By paying workers so little, Wal-Mart “compels taxpayers to pick up a tab that wouldn’t even exist if the company paid its workers enough to get them out of poverty,” Harold Meyerson wrote in The Washington Post. To help workers and save taxpayers’ money, Sanders is a cosponsor of a bill to raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour.

Watch the MSNBC interview »

Take the poll »

Read Harold Meyerson’s column »