THierry Tchenko believes in
An Economy That Works For Working People
THierry Tchenko believes in
An Economy That Works For Working People
Everyday Texans are struggling.
The Person:
I’m the child of immigrants. My parents were earning $200 a month in Cameroon before coming to America for a better life. When they got here, my dad started as a cashier at a gas station in Southwest Houston and my mom worked at Dillard’s. We were never wealthy. 29 years later, I am running for the U.S. Senate.
The Principle:
These 4 Bible Verses help shape my economic policy:
Proverbs 14:23: All hard work leads to profit, but mere talk leads to poverty.
Psalm 128:1-2: You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.
Deuteronomy 24:14: Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
Proverbs 3:27-28: Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.
The Bible states that work is good. We should be encouraging people to work and celebrating them for their hard work. A major part of celebrating someone for their work is by compensating them for their labor. Hard work is supposed to lead to profit, not stagnation or debt.
The Problem:
Everyday Texans are struggling. 40% of Texas make under $15 an hour and 2 million Texans don’t make a livable wage. Too many politicians in Austin and Washington care more about tax breaks for their corporate donors than about the ability of working families to not just get by, but to thrive. The average worker is being taken advantage of by big businesses that are making record profits but are not allowing everyday folks to reap the benefits of their hard work. We need to fix how our economic policies treat working people.
The Policy Proposal:
Over 2 million Texans who work at least 40 hours a week don’t earn a living wage. I believe that if you work 40 hours a week, you should be able to earn enough to take care of your basic needs such as paying your mortgage, buying food for the family, and accessing medicine for your health. Even after that, you should have enough left over to save for the future.
Our state’s minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. 40% of Texans make under $15 dollars an hour. I will introduce legislation to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and connect that minimum wage with inflation to raise the baseline for Texas families.
The success of the companies shouldn’t just benefit CEOs and shareholders. It should benefit the workers that are largely the reason for the profit increases. The CEO-to-average worker ratio in our biggest businesses is 356 to 1. I’ll introduce legislation that taxes companies that have a CEO-to-average worker pay ratio of more than 100 to 1. If CEOs of big businesses can give themselves pay increases while making record profit, the workers at the same company should receive a pay increase as well.
Small businesses employ 47.1% of our non-government workers in Texas and maintaining a small business is getting harder by the day. There are many resources the federal government offers, but just because something is available, doesn’t mean it's accessible. When I’m elected, I will work hard to connect Texas’s small businesses with federal resources to ensure they have the capital they need to keep our communities thriving.
We must create economic opportunities for everyday Texans and working families to ensure they can keep as much money in their pockets as possible. Our economy should be focused on investing in American businesses and workers.