While calling themselves "populists," in 2017 Republicans passed President Trump's only significant legislation, a nearly $2 trillion tax cut that sent 82 percent of its benefits to the top 1 percent of wealthy Americans and 63 percent to the top one-tenth of that 1 percent while driving the nation's debt through the roof and accomplishing little purpose other than exacerbating America's unjust income and wealth divide.

A real populist is one who not only appeals to ordinary people who feel their concerns have been neglected, but actually does something about it. The clearest indication of whether a politician is a true or faux populist is his or her position on raising the minimum wage.

Raising the minimum wage is highly popular among Americans even if many don't know the basic facts. The federal minimum wage is just $7.25; it hasn't been raised since 2009. Tipped workers earn only $2.13; disabled workers earn an average of $2.15. Congress is proposing a Raise the Wage Act to lift the minimum wage incrementally to $15 by 2025, phasing out the $2.13 tipped wage, and ending lower wages for the 420,000 workers with disabilities.

Many local cities - e.g., Seattle - have already passed and implemented a $15 minimum wage with good results. Last November, over 60 percent of Florida voters passed a referendum to gradually lift the minimum wage to $15, becoming the eighth state to do so.

Inflation didn't stop in 2009, so while income has remained stagnant for most American workers, costs continue to rise, affecting low-wage workers the most. In fact, if the minimum wage set in 1960 had merely kept pace with inflation the minimum wage today would be around $22.

Raising the federal minimum wage would disproportionately help women, especially women of color, because of the low-wage essential jobs they occupy - e.g., medical assistants, caring for seniors, cashiers, retail workers, teacher's helpers, maids and housekeeping cleaners, daycare workers, food servers and more.

According to the National Employment Law Project, 42.4 percent of all American workers earn less than $15 an hour; that's 32 million workers who would benefit, including 19 million women (59 percent) who are disproportionately women of color. In all, more than 1-in-4 women working full or part time would see a raise, including 8 million mothers, 65 percent of whom are primary or sole breadwinners.

Nearly a quarter - 23 percent - of all workers who would see a raise are Black women or Latina, including 3.4 million Black women and 4 million Latinas."

Our economy is driven, not by trickle-down economics, but by consumer-up spending that makes up 70 percent of the gross national product. It is hard to understand why many businesses have lined up in opposition to adding billions in consumer spending. Women working full time at $15 would increase their annual earnings by $3,500 ($3,700 for Black and Latina women). They would almost certainly spend the total $70 billion in increased income out of necessity.

Sen. Joe Manchin (WV), who represents a very poor conservative state, is having trouble supporting $15. He should recognize that raising the minimum wage is not an ideological issue, neither conservative nor liberal. It is not about left or right, but about right and wrong. Today, doing what is morally right - paying workers their inherent value as workers and vigorous enforcement of workplace protections, for example, against sexual harassment - also provides a necessary economic boost that will benefit the nation.

Raising the minimum wage will also help to close the wage and gender gaps between what women earn - again, especially women of color - and what men earn.

When talking about essential workers economist Rhonda V. Sharpe has pointed out our misconception if we see the job as essential, and not the worker.

We are working our way through a COVID-19 crisis and low-income women - disproportionately women of color working in dangerous and essential jobs - have been undervalued. It is time we value the worker, not just the job, by raising the minimum wage to $15.

To truly value workers is to treat them with dignity, guarantee them safe and healthy working conditions, and pay them a living wage. The time to raise the minimum wage, like the fee on the library books we took out and never returned, is long past due!

You can write to the Rev. Jesse Jackson in care of this newspaper or by email at jjackson@rainbowpush.org. Follow him on Twitter @RevJJackson.