Republicans in Congress may not support raising the minimum wage, but most mayors in America say they want to do exactly that.A Politico survey reached out to 73 mayors in cities across the country asking them if they would consider raising the minimum wage like had been done in Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York City, all three of which approved a $15 minimum wage over the last two years.In a stunning result, 65 percent of the mayors surveyed said they would definitely consider raising the minimum wage. 37 percent said they would consider raising wages as high as $15 an hour while 28 percent said they consider raising wages but not quite as high as $15, suggesting they would support President Obama s call to raise the minimum wage to at least $10 an hour.29 percent of the mayors are like the Republicans who control Congress, in that they refuse to consider the idea of raising the minimum wage at all.Income inequality and poverty ranked as serious issues among the mayors with 80 percent identifying both as great challenges to overcome.Of course, raising the minimum wage would do a lot to close the income gap and provide families with more resources. And because families would spend that extra money, it would be a huge boost to the local economy. It would also help Americans pay for housing, which is getting much more difficult now. In addition, it would save the federal government millions of dollars because higher wages would mean less people needing federal aid such as food stamps to get by.Sadly, efforts to raise the minimum wage have been largely left to cities as Republicans in control of state legislatures and Congress refuse to take up the issue so as not to anger their corporate masters, despite the fact that studies from both sides of the aisle support wage hikes.Indeed, Republicans would rather eliminate the minimum wage all together so that corporate CEOs can pay their employees slave wages that would make America look more like it did during the Gilded Age, when workers were kept in poverty due to low wages, and the top 2 percent controlled more than a third of the nation s wealth.And once again, unless the issue of low wages and income inequality is addressed in a meaningful way, America will be repeating history, which means that the middle class will cease to exist and workers will struggle to keep their families and themselves afloat as the wealthy use their money to buy politicians to ensure that nothing ever changes.Raising the minimum wage and tying it to the rate of inflation has never been more important to achieve. And as Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York City have demonstrated, it can be done. But if we want it to happen across the entire nation, the 2016 Election would be a great place to start. Republicans think they can keep forcing Americans to work longer and harder with inadequate pay while they continue to make $174,000 a year working only for 110 days out of 365.Clearly, there is something terribly wrong when lawmakers can raise their own taxpayer paid salaries at will while they continue to reject the pleas of working people across the country to have their own efforts rewarded with a much needed wage increase.Featured Image: PR Watch