St. Louis Voters Reject Todd Akin’s Vision for America during Limbo Rally

Locals speak out and slam Akin’s positions on issues from the minimum wage to Medicare and Medicaid

 

St. Louis, MO – A diverse group of local voters joined a protest against Todd Akin on Thursday, as Mitt Romney accepted the GOP nomination. Across the country, the 99% - low wage workers, seniors, community activists, students, and faith leaders - roundly rejected the 1%-focused Romney Economy in favor of an economy that works for all of us.   

 

In St. Louis, the rally was kicked off with a brass band playing a new rendition of the limbo song while seniors, students, minimum wage workers, and other local activists took turns going under limbo sticks.  The crowd asked how low Akin could go on issues like raising the minimum wage, federal student loan programs, and Medicare and Medicaid. 

 

Local workers scraping by on minimum wage slammed Representative Akin’s position that minimum wage laws should be abolished all together.  

 

“Todd Akin doesn’t think minimum wage laws should even exist,” said Rasheen Aldrige, a local Jimmy Johns worker who only makes $7.50/hour. “I work hard every single day, both as a full time student and working anywhere from 20-40 hours a week at Jimmy Johns, but because I don’t make a wage that I can actually support myself on I have to live at home with my parents. Can you imagine what Jimmy Johns would pay me if they didn’t have to abide by minimum wage laws?”  

 

Seniors and students also spokes out about the need to sustain and protect Medicaid, Medicare, and federal student loan programs.   

 

Immediately following the rally, participants took part in a door to door canvass to visit potential voters one on one and discuss why Mitt Romney and Todd Akin’s vision for America is wrong. 

 

Nationwide, members of the 99% rejected a Romney Economy and candidates who share a similar vision like Todd Akin, welcoming home protesters from the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. These voters want: an increase to the federal minimum wage, an end to tax breaks for the rich and corporations, a renewed focus on creating good American jobs instead of layoffs and outsourcing for profit, and a Congress committed to representing all Americans, not just the 1%.