I was raised in Bristol, Connecticut, known way back then as a clock city. Ingraham and Sessions were family names behind their wide success. They lived in mansions – not the sort of palaces one sees around Lake Minnetonka, but definitely mansions compared to even the rest of the Hill section of the city. But they were members of our community and their kids were public school students like the rest of us. One of my sister’s friends was a Sessions, and my high school boyfriend, after we had a falling out, took Faith Ingraham to the prom. (Hallie and I watched from the balcony. In those days one had to have a date to attend the prom.) My point is, they were one of us, not lofty, disconnected masters.
So what’s that got to do with saving our capitalist system? Well, I hope I’m not breaking some copyright, or even courtesy, rule, but I wanted to hand on this email distributed today by one of the “haves.” (I would assume that he’d want it distributed as widely as possible. I loved it, partly because it makes my social-justice-self happy, but mostly because it demonstrates what’s needed to keep our economic system functioning well. This group obviously recognizes good business when they do it. Take a look and see if you agree.
p.s. I’m planning to send a copy of this blog entry to him.
“From: “John Driscoll, Patriotic Millionaires”
Subject: Paying workers well always pays off in the long run
Date: September 7, 2026 at 9:06:33 AM CDT
From: “John Driscoll, Patriotic Millionaires”
Subject: Paying workers well always pays off in the long run
Date: September 7, 2026 at 9:06:33 AM CDT
It’s Labor Day, and let’s be clear I would not be the success I am without the workers who made my companies great. They were the driving force behind every dollar and every metric, and it has always been my priority as a leader to make sure that every member of my team knew how important they were to me.
It’s part of the reason why I wrote Pay the People: Why Fair Pay Is Good for Business and Great for America. The other reason is that well, it didn’t make sense to me why every business didn’t follow our lead and invest in the people who made them great and drive our economy forward.
I do not talk about these business decisions from theory. I know from personal experience. When I took over CareCentrix as CEO, it was losing customers and it was running out of money. But I had a profound belief that the company—if we were going to win—we were going to win together. That’s why one of the first things I did was freeze executive salaries and ensure that nobody was making below $15 an hour (approximately the cost of living wage about 12 years ago). We had phenomenal results. We tripled the size of the company and sold it for more than a billion dollars.
As a CEO, I invested in my front line and our mid- wage workers. They won and we won as a company. I believe that in a successful American economy—the most successful in the world – that everyone can and should win. And if you’re going to lead a company, everybody in the company sees a path to be part of that. I don’t see how we can see a path to winning in the American economy if workers are sleeping in their cars at night and they can’t afford their bills.
And unfortunately, that’s where we’re at right now. We’re in a K-Shaped economy, as my fellow Patriotic Millionaire Morris Pearl explained it, where working people struggle while those at the very top—the .1 and .01%—continue to see their wealth climb.
And systems like this don’t correct themselves. We know—we’re millionaires who see just how rigged the system is, and want to work to change it. That’s why we created The MONEY Agenda. It’s a simple way to reset the system of an economy that works super well for the wealthy and leaves too many workers behind. We know the solutions to these problems actually aren’t complicated. By sharing more opportunity and frankly money in the hands of working people we can grow our economy sustainably over the long run.
Right now, when one kind of money is treated differently than another kind of money, growing inequality is locked in by the math. When the federal government taxes working people into poverty while billionaires pay nothing, those at the bottom lose trust and hope. When successful corporations increasingly pay less taxes while paying their workers next to nothing, we lose social cohesion and our democracy along the way.
One component of The MONEY Agenda, the low wage excise tax, would require that companies that are effectively not paying a living wage should then be taxed to the point where they pay a living wage.
Think about it: Why should taxpayers subsidize (through food stamps and other Federal poverty programs) lower than poverty wages for larger profitable companies? Why should the government not only allow that, but then reward them for their short-sighted behavior with tax breaks? And, why should the Federal government tax people who work full time earning poverty level wages?
Click here to tell your elected officials to support The MONEY Agenda! What I did at CareCentrix, we can do for the country, and I think it’d be good for all the communities we live in. This Labor Day, let’s recommit ourselves to building a nation that meets the needs of every full-time worker—where the benefits of business success are shared by all. We are building momentum toward a future that protects the rights, dignity, and well-being of everyone who works for a living.
Thank you for all you do,
John Driscoll
Patriotic Millionaires Board Member”
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