A funny thing got left out of this Star Tribune report and much of the other coverage involving mother and accountant Rebekah Erler, whose letter to the White House Barack Obama used in his ongoing push to raise the minimum wage.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told the Star Tribune on Wednesday that the letter from Rebekah Erler inspired the president to launch a series of conversations around the country with regular middle-class Americans.
The accountant and 36-year-old mother of two wrote to the president about the ongoing financial struggles that she and her husband face despite the economic recovery. Her note made its way into the pile of 10 letters from Americans that Obama reads each night.
Per the last paragraphs of a local CBS report, she’s most frustrated that the American economy isn’t growing faster. Unfortunately, no one in the media seems to want to connect the dots between Obama’s hyper-regulatory approach, including efforts to force up wages for struggling businesses, and a still languishing economy now almost six years into Obama’s watch.
Erler says her family is happy, but she will tell the president she’s frustrated the economy is not improving more quickly.
“Overall, it’s frustrating that those things, those little extras that make you feel like you’re making it, being able to put money aside for your kids’ college, going on vacation, all those things, you know. You can’t do those anymore,” she said.