title:  Here’s How Trump’s VP Pick Lobbied To Screw The Poor (VIDEO)
text: The minimum wage hasn t been raised for nearly a decade, and a decade ago, the fight was just as nasty and contentious as it is now and Donald Trump s running mate was on the wrong side of the argument.In 2007, Congress raised the minimum wage from a paltry $5.15 an hour to a slightly less paltry $7.25 an hour. Mike Pence, then a Congressman, and now the Republican governor of Indiana and our potential next Vice President, opposed the raise. A 41 percent increase in the minimum wage that is brought into the well of Congress without providing any relief to small business owners and family farmers is irresponsible and unwise,  he said.  It will harm both the wage payer and the wage earner. An excessive increase in the minimum wage will hurt the working poor. Source: Huffington PostHere s the video:Note that the minimum wage increased occurred before Citizens United, so before the Koch brothers had such a toxic effect on our political system. Still, as the above video proves, the strawman argument about the minimum wage has been around for a very long time, and it s very wrong. According to the Department of Labor:A July 2015 survey found that 3 out of 5 small business owners with employees support a gradual increase in the minimum wage to $12. The survey reports that small business owners say an increase  would immediately put more money in the pocket of low-wage workers who will then spend the money on things like housing, food, and gas. This boost in demand for goods and services will help stimulate the economy and help create opportunities. Fortunately, for the country, the 2007 increase passed in a bipartisan landslide. For small businesses, the law included tax breaks.Not surprisingly, Pence has strong ties to the Koch brothers, who have long fought any minimum wage increases, or really, any minimum wage at all. No doubt that s why Pence, even to this day, still fights raising the minimum wage, while Trump vacillates on the issue and Hillary Clinton supports raising it to $12 to $15 an hour.Featured image via Drew Angerer at Getty Images.