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Weekly Address: Calling on Congress to Raise the Minimum Wage
Transcript:
Hi, everybody. In this year of action, I said I’d do everything in my power to expand opportunity for more Americans. And this week, I took action to lift more workers’ wages by requiring federal contractors to pay their employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour. These are workers who serve our troops’ meals, wash their dishes, care for our veterans – Americans who work hard and will get a raise as these contracts come up. This will be good for contractors, for taxpayers, and for America’s bottom line.
We know why this is important. Our economy has been growing for four years. Our businesses have created eight and a half million new jobs. But while those at the top are doing better than ever, average wages have barely budged. Too many Americans are working harder than ever just to get by, let alone get ahead. And that’s been true since long before the recession hit.
That’s why we’ve got to build an economy that works for everybody, not just a fortunate few. We’ve got to restore opportunity for all – the notion that no matter who you are or how you started out, with hard work and responsibility, you can get ahead in America.
The opportunity agenda I’ve laid out is built on more new jobs that pay good wages; better training for folks to fill those jobs; a smarter education for our kids; and making sure honest work is rewarded. And the action I took this week will reward hard work for more Americans.
But to finish the job, Congress needs to act. In the year since I first asked Congress to raise the minimum wage, six states have passed laws to raise theirs. More states, cities, counties, and companies are taking steps to join them. An overwhelming majority of Americans support raising a minimum wage that’s worth about 20% less than when Ronald Reagan took office.
Right now, there’s a bill in Congress that would boost America’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. That’s easy to remember: ten-ten. And remember, the average worker who would get a raise if Congress acts is about 35 years old. Most lower-wage jobs are held by women. And raising the minimum wage wouldn’t just raise their wages – its effect would lift wages for about 28 million Americans. It would lift millions of Americans out of poverty, and help millions more work their way out of poverty – without requiring a single dollar in new taxes or spending. It will give more businesses more customers with more money to spend – and that means growing the economy for everyone.
You deserve to know where the people who represent you stand on this. If they don’t support raising the federal minimum wage to ten-ten an hour, ask them “why not?” The opponents of raising folks’ wages have deployed the same old arguments for years, and time and again, they’ve been proven wrong. Let’s prove them wrong again, and give America a raise. Let’s make opportunity easier to come by for every American who’s willing to work for it.
Thanks, and have a great weekend.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/02/15/weekly-address-calling-congress-raise-minimum-wage
We know why this is important. Our economy has been growing for four years. Our businesses have created eight and a half million new jobs. But while those at the top are doing better than ever, average wages have barely budged. Too many Americans are working harder than ever just to get by, let alone get ahead. And that’s been true since long before the recession hit.
That’s why we’ve got to build an economy that works for everybody, not just a fortunate few. We’ve got to restore opportunity for all – the notion that no matter who you are or how you started out, with hard work and responsibility, you can get ahead in America.
The opportunity agenda I’ve laid out is built on more new jobs that pay good wages; better training for folks to fill those jobs; a smarter education for our kids; and making sure honest work is rewarded. And the action I took this week will reward hard work for more Americans.
But to finish the job, Congress needs to act. In the year since I first asked Congress to raise the minimum wage, six states have passed laws to raise theirs. More states, cities, counties, and companies are taking steps to join them. An overwhelming majority of Americans support raising a minimum wage that’s worth about 20% less than when Ronald Reagan took office.
Right now, there’s a bill in Congress that would boost America’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. That’s easy to remember: ten-ten. And remember, the average worker who would get a raise if Congress acts is about 35 years old. Most lower-wage jobs are held by women. And raising the minimum wage wouldn’t just raise their wages – its effect would lift wages for about 28 million Americans. It would lift millions of Americans out of poverty, and help millions more work their way out of poverty – without requiring a single dollar in new taxes or spending. It will give more businesses more customers with more money to spend – and that means growing the economy for everyone.
You deserve to know where the people who represent you stand on this. If they don’t support raising the federal minimum wage to ten-ten an hour, ask them “why not?” The opponents of raising folks’ wages have deployed the same old arguments for years, and time and again, they’ve been proven wrong. Let’s prove them wrong again, and give America a raise. Let’s make opportunity easier to come by for every American who’s willing to work for it.
Thanks, and have a great weekend.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/02/15/weekly-address-calling-congress-raise-minimum-wage
Over 600 Economists Sign Letter In Support of $10.10 Minimum Wage
Over 600 PhD economists have signed an open letter—initiated by Economic Policy Institute President Lawrence Mishel and Harvard University professor Lawrence Katz—to the president and Congress in support of the Harkin-Miller Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013. Signatories include 7 Nobel Prize winners and 8 former presidents of the American Economic Association.
The letter urges lawmakers to immediately enact a three-step raise of 95 cents a year for three years, which would mean a minimum wage of $10.10 by 2016, and then index it to protect against inflation. This increase would mean that minimum-wage workers who work full time, full year would see a raise from their current salary of roughly $15,000 to roughly $21,000. The proposals would also raise the tipped minimum wage to 70 percent of the regular minimum wage.
“The fact that so many economists support this legislation makes it a no-brainer for Congress,” said Mishel. “Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 would restore the value that it’s lost to inflation over the years, giving working families a raise while providing modest economic stimulus.”
President Obama has endorsed the Harkin-Miller bill and is expected to call for an increase to the minimum wage in his upcoming State of the Union address.
http://www.epi.org/press/600-economists-sign-letter-support-10-10/
Over 600 PhD economists have signed an open letter—initiated by Economic Policy Institute President Lawrence Mishel and Harvard University professor Lawrence Katz—to the president and Congress in support of the Harkin-Miller Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013. Signatories include 7 Nobel Prize winners and 8 former presidents of the American Economic Association.
The letter urges lawmakers to immediately enact a three-step raise of 95 cents a year for three years, which would mean a minimum wage of $10.10 by 2016, and then index it to protect against inflation. This increase would mean that minimum-wage workers who work full time, full year would see a raise from their current salary of roughly $15,000 to roughly $21,000. The proposals would also raise the tipped minimum wage to 70 percent of the regular minimum wage.
“The fact that so many economists support this legislation makes it a no-brainer for Congress,” said Mishel. “Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 would restore the value that it’s lost to inflation over the years, giving working families a raise while providing modest economic stimulus.”
President Obama has endorsed the Harkin-Miller bill and is expected to call for an increase to the minimum wage in his upcoming State of the Union address.
http://www.epi.org/press/600-economists-sign-letter-support-10-10/
Economist Statement on the Federal Minimum Wage
Dear Mr. President, Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader Reid, Congressman Cantor, Senator McConnell, and Congresswoman Pelosi:
July will mark five years since the federal minimum wage was last raised. We urge you to act now and enact a three-step raise of 95 cents a year for three years—which would mean a minimum wage of $10.10 by 2016—and then index it to protect against inflation. Senator Tom Harkin and Representative George Miller have introduced legislation to accomplish this. The increase to $10.10 would mean that minimum-wage workers who work full time, full year would see a raise from their current salary of roughly $15,000 to roughly $21,000. These proposals also usefully raise the tipped minimum wage to 70% of the regular minimum.
This policy would directly provide higher wages for close to 17 million workers by 2016. Furthermore, another 11 million workers whose wages are just above the new minimum would likely see a wage increase through “spillover” effects, as employers adjust their internal wage ladders. The vast majority of employees who would benefit are adults in working families, disproportionately women, who work at least 20 hours a week and depend on these earnings to make ends meet. At a time when persistent high unemployment is putting enormous downward pressure on wages, such a minimum-wage increase would provide a much-needed boost to the earnings of low-wage workers.
In recent years there have been important developments in the academic literature on the effect of increases in the minimum wage on employment, with the weight of evidence now showing that increases in the minimum wage have had little or no negative effect on the employment of minimum-wage workers, even during times of weakness in the labor market. Research suggests that a minimum-wage increase could have a small stimulative effect on the economy as low-wage workers spend their additional earnings, raising demand and job growth, and providing some help on the jobs front.
Sincerely,
- more -
http://www.epi.org/minimum-wage-statement/
Dear Mr. President, Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader Reid, Congressman Cantor, Senator McConnell, and Congresswoman Pelosi:
July will mark five years since the federal minimum wage was last raised. We urge you to act now and enact a three-step raise of 95 cents a year for three years—which would mean a minimum wage of $10.10 by 2016—and then index it to protect against inflation. Senator Tom Harkin and Representative George Miller have introduced legislation to accomplish this. The increase to $10.10 would mean that minimum-wage workers who work full time, full year would see a raise from their current salary of roughly $15,000 to roughly $21,000. These proposals also usefully raise the tipped minimum wage to 70% of the regular minimum.
This policy would directly provide higher wages for close to 17 million workers by 2016. Furthermore, another 11 million workers whose wages are just above the new minimum would likely see a wage increase through “spillover” effects, as employers adjust their internal wage ladders. The vast majority of employees who would benefit are adults in working families, disproportionately women, who work at least 20 hours a week and depend on these earnings to make ends meet. At a time when persistent high unemployment is putting enormous downward pressure on wages, such a minimum-wage increase would provide a much-needed boost to the earnings of low-wage workers.
In recent years there have been important developments in the academic literature on the effect of increases in the minimum wage on employment, with the weight of evidence now showing that increases in the minimum wage have had little or no negative effect on the employment of minimum-wage workers, even during times of weakness in the labor market. Research suggests that a minimum-wage increase could have a small stimulative effect on the economy as low-wage workers spend their additional earnings, raising demand and job growth, and providing some help on the jobs front.
Sincerely,
- more -
http://www.epi.org/minimum-wage-statement/
BOOM: Obama signs order to raise minimum wage for federal contractors...disabled workers included!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024489919
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