Weekly Address: America Is a Place Where Hard Work Should Be Rewarded (Minimum Wage)

[cal04]

Source: White House

In this week's address, the President made the case for why it's past time to raise the minimum wage. Increasing the national minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would benefit 28 million Americans, and make our economy stronger. While Republicans in Congress have blocked this commonsense proposal, a large and growing coalition of state and local leaders and owners of businesses large and small have answered the President's call and raised wages for their residents and employees.

This progress is important, but there is more that can be done. No American who works full time should have to raise a family in poverty. That's why the President will continue to push Congress to take action and give America its well-deserved raise.

Read more: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/10/11/weekly-address-america-place-where-hard-work-should-be-rewarded

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Transcript
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/10/11/weekly-address-america-place-where-hard-work-should-be-rewarded

In this week’s address, the President made the case for why it’s past time to raise the minimum wage. Increasing the national minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would benefit 28 million Americans, and make our economy stronger. While Republicans in Congress have blocked this commonsense proposal, a large and growing coalition of state and local leaders and owners of businesses large and small have answered the President’s call and raised wages for their residents and employees. This progress is important, but there is more that can be done. No American who works full time should have to raise a family in poverty. That’s why the President will continue to push Congress to take action and give America its well-deserved raise.

(snip)
Ask yourself: could you live on $14,500 a year? That’s what someone working full-time on the minimum wage makes. If they’re raising kids, that’s below the poverty line. And that’s not right. A hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.

Right now, a worker on the federal minimum wage earns $7.25 an hour. It’s time to raise that to $10.10 an hour.

Raising the federal minimum wage to ten dollars and ten cents an hour, or ten-ten, would benefit 28 million American workers. 28 million. And these aren’t just high schoolers on their first job. The average worker who would benefit is 35 years old. Most low-wage workers are women. And that extra money would help them pay the bills and provide for their families. It also means they’ll have more money to spend at local businesses – which grows the economy for everyone.

But Congress hasn’t voted to raise the minimum wage in seven years. Seven years. And when it got a vote earlier this year, Republicans flat-out voted “no.” That’s why, since the first time I asked Congress to give America a raise, 13 states, 21 cities and D.C. have gone around Congress to raise their workers’ wages. Five more states have minimum wage initiatives on the ballot next month. More companies are choosing to raise their workers’ wages. A recent survey shows that a majority of small business owners support a gradual increase to ten-ten an hour, too. And I’ve done what I can on my own by requiring federal contractors to pay their workers at least ten-ten an hour.

On Friday, a coalition of citizens – including business leaders, working moms, labor unions, and more than 65 mayors – told Republicans in Congress to stop blocking a raise for millions of hard-working Americans. Because we believe that in America, nobody who works full-time should ever have to raise a family in poverty. And I’m going to keep up this fight until we win. Because America deserves a raise right now. And America should forever be a place where your hard work is rewarded.

[BumRushDaShow]

1. Thanks for posting

Heard it on local radio here at 6.09 EDT this morning and glad he continues to push for the wage increases. I remember when the last increase went into effect but could only get through as a rider on a Defense/Iraq war supplemental, if I remember correctly. It will be difficult to get it in now with this awful Congress, and if we don't GOTV, it will be near impossible for the near term.

[Bigredhunk]

2. Thanks

[EEO]

3. Not high enough.

[Third Doctor]

4. I agree that it's not high enough.

But considering the idiots on the other side wants to do away with a minimum wage all together and let the loving corporations (sarcasm) decide who gets what. This is a better deal. We are behind many of the other western world countries in that area and it's disgraceful.

[redruddyred]

14. no, it's not.

[rocktivity]

5. Oh, phooey! I thought it said

"America Is a Place Where Hard ROCK Should Be Rewarded!"




rocktivity

[SoapBox]

6. Ok...

That's funny.

[L0oniX]

13. DUzy!

[tularetom]

7. He knows the R's in congress are going to vote against whatever he proposes

So why doesn't he at least propose something a bit more realistic? At least that would give him negotiating wiggle room. He's weakened his position before he even begins negotiating.

He needs to forget about umpteen dimensional chess and learn to play poker.

[L0oniX]

12. He finally figured that out.

[redruddyred]

15. I thought that 10.10 *was* the realistic option.

I thought the republican plan was to be as obstructive as possible until they got their own guys back into office?

[Marrah_G]

8. Better then nothing

But frankly a reward for hard work should be more then barely able to put a roof over your head. What really needs to happen is some sort of regulation tying wages to profits, including ceo wages and bonuses. Right now wages are stagnant and the cost of living has gone way up.

[jtuck004]

9. He must think banksters work their damn fingers to the bone. n/t

[L0oniX]

11. +1

[L0oniX]

10. Well ...it's good to have dreams and goals.