The Oprah Winfrey Show offers a glipse into the lives of families trying to get by on minimum wage.

The Betrayal of Work’s author dispels myths about barriers to a living wage.

The Judas Economy’s authors examine white-collar workers, who once earned good salaries, but live in poverty now that employers sent their jobs overseas.

The National Coalition for the Homeless is committed to a single mission: to end homelessness.

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Unbelievably, a growing number of municipalities turn to law enforcement to respond to people who simply have no place to go. In many cities, the police forcibly remove homeless people from bus stations, sidewalks, underpasses, and other public places.

To characterize homeless people as outlaws is both cruel and absurd. But mayors of cities across America, in an attempt to placate their citizens, have caved to the pressure exerted by those who call the homeless “bums.” Just because they feel uncomfortable in their presence, these folks call the police to force the homeless off the street and into shelters. Shelters, however, are inappropriately named, because they fail to provide even basic security; in fact, many women and children are afraid to spend the night in them. Clearly, government would prefer to treat its less fortunate citizens as criminals rather than extend safety and dignity to them.

Perception is part of the problem. Portrayals of the homeless in the news and entertainment media depict them as dishonest, lazy, even criminal. The fact is, many suffer from mental illness. Many more are “working poor,” meaning that they are holding down jobs but unable to maintain a household on such a tiny budget.

And the budget is tiny indeed. The working poor in the U.S. face a minimum wage of $5.15. Assuming they work 40 hours for a 52-week year, they put in 2,080 hours. At minimum wage, that comes to $10,712 a year, or $893 a month. And that’s before taxes.

Of course, the homeless share the added disadvantage of little access to health care. Out of the more than 40 million people who lack basic health insurance in the U.S., several million are homeless, and many of them got that way by working at less than a living wage. Many loss their homes when they lose their meager wages through corporate layoffs.

Un ugly secret unknown to most Americans is that the homeless are often excluded from the electoral process. The U.S. Constitution's guarantees all citizens the right to vote, but because homeless people have no permanent residence, they are unable to register to vote, because local boards of election do not permit them to do so. Therefore, their voices are not heard and their interests are ignored by elected officials.

The federal minimum wage has not been raised in nearly 10 years. This is largely due to the massive lobbying machine put together by major U.S. corporations. These employers devote millions of dollars toward political action committees, all in an effort to preserve the status quo. To keep these corporations happy, government puts off raising the minimum wage, believing that through inaction, they can keep collecting the campaign contributions that come from the corporate special interests.

Regular readers will recognize this recurring theme. They may remember from my previous articles the assertion that meaningful change cannot happen in society before corporate citizens are held accountable. Legislation is needed to force corporations to treat people equitably. To make that happen, we need campaign finance reform, so that lawmakers can act without interference and wholesale bribery. Only then can we expect Congress and state legislatures to raise wages and provide for the health benefits that protect individuals and families.