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Weekly Address: President Obama – Time for Congress to Raise the Minimum Wage

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The President’s Weekly Address post is also the Weekend Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

 

From the White House – Weekly Address

In this week’s address, President Obama highlighted the momentum building across the country to give Americans a raise and reiterated his call for Congress to increase the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10. The President has already signed an executive order to raise the minimum wage for people working under new federal contracts. Companies large and small are choosing to give workers a raise because they know it’s good business. And Governors across the country are answering the President’s call by working to raise their states’ minimum wages. Now, it’s time for Congress to get the job done and restore opportunity for all Americans by raising the minimum wage to “ten-ten.”

Transcript: Weekly Address – Time for Congress to Raise the Minimum Wage for the American People

Hi, everybody.  This week, I traveled to New England, where I was joined by four governors who are working to raise the minimum wage in each of their states.  And they’ve also joined me in calling on Congress to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour.  Because it would give nearly 800,000 Americans in their states a raise – and lift wages for about 28 million across the country.

So these governors aren’t waiting for Congress to make up its mind.  And in my State of the Union Address, I asked America’s business leaders to go ahead and do what they could to raise their employees’ wages, too.  And increasingly, it’s not just large companies like Costco or the Gap that choose to pay their employees higher starting wages.

It’s smaller businesses like Jaxson’s, a family-owned ice cream parlor in South Florida.  They answered the call and raised their wages so that more than 70 employees would earn at least $10.10 an hour, without cutting back on hiring.

And two weeks ago, an Atlanta small business owner named Darien Southerland [SUTH-er-lind] wrote me to share a lesson his grandmother taught him – that if you treat your employees right, they’ll treat you right.  And Vice President Biden paid him a visit this week.

I agree with these business owners, which is why I issued an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay their employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour.  It’s good for our bottom line.  And working Americans have struggled through stagnant wages for far too long.

A clear majority of Americans support raising the minimum wage, because we believe that nobody who works full-time should have to live in poverty.  About half of all Republicans support raising the minimum wage, too.  It’s just too bad they don’t serve in Congress.  Because the Republicans who do serve in Congress don’t want to vote on the minimum wage at all.  Some even want to get rid of it completely.  Seriously.

That’s why what business leaders and everyday Americans are doing to raise wages is so important.  Because change doesn’t come from Washington – change comes to Washington.  I’ve always believed that, and it’s true in this case, too.  Outside Washington, Americans are ready to put aside old political arguments and move this country forward.  The American people are way ahead of Congress on this issue, and we’ve just got to let Congress know that.  It’s time for “ten-ten.”  It’s time to give America a raise.  And it’s time to restore opportunity for all.

Thanks, and have a great weekend.

Bolding and underlining added.

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  1. JanF


    Transcript

    STUDENT:  We love you, Mr. President!

    THE PRESIDENT:  I love you back!  I love you.  (Applause.)  But we can’t just spend the whole day talking about how we love each other.  (Laughter.)  That’s not why I came.  We are here today — we’re here today because each of us cares deeply about creating new jobs and new opportunities for all Americans.  And we’re at this interesting moment in our economy — our economy has been growing, our businesses have created about eight and a half million new jobs over the past four years.  The unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been in over five years.  (Applause.)  Those are all things that we should be proud of.

    But there are some trends out there that have been battering the middle class for a long, long time — well before this Great Recession hit.  And in some ways, some of those trends have gotten worse, not better.  The nature of today’s economy with technology and globalization means that there are folks at the top who are doing better than ever, but average wages have barely budged.  Average incomes have not gone up.  Too many Americans are working harder than ever just to keep up.

    Fortunately, folks in Connecticut have really good delegations, so your senators and representatives are already on board.  (Applause.)  They’re all on board.  They’re fighting the good fight.  (Applause.)  But anybody who is watching at home, you deserve to know where your elected official stands.  So just ask them, “Do you support raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour?”  If they say yes, say, “thanks.”  (Laughter.)  “Great job.”  We need encouragement too, elected officials.  (Laughter.)  If they say no, you should be polite — (laughter) — but you should say, “why not?”  Ask them to reconsider.  Ask them to side with the majority of Americans.  Instead of saying no, for once, say yes.  It’s time for $10.10.  It’s time to give America a raise.  (Applause.)

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