It’s official. Obama signs minimum wage order
02/12/14 08:59 AM—Updated 02/12/14 04:05 PM
By Michele Richinick

President Obama signed an executive order into action on Wednesday afternoon to raise the minimum wage for federal contract workers by 2015.

The declaration mandates all federally contracted employees earn at least $10.10 per hour – up from the current $7.25 – beginning next year on Jan. 1. It is unclear exactly how many individuals will be affected, but the increase could potentially involve hundreds of thousands of workers and Americans with disabilities. The payment hike won’t influence current contractors, though.

“I’m eager to work with Congress whenever I can find opportunity to expand opportunities to American families. But whenever I can act alone without Congress to use my pen to take executive action…that’s what I’m going to do,” Obama said during a press conference at the White House.

The president’s signature came one year after he first asked legislators to raise the federal minimum wage. While leaders in Washington took time to decide on their actions, six states passed individual laws increasing payment.

http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/its-official-obama-signs-min-wage-order

NCD Hails Inclusion of Workers with Disabilities in Minimum Wage Executive Order

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024489594

WASHINGTON -- When Senate Democrats fell just one vote short of advancing a bill to restore long-term unemployment insurance last Thursday, Russ Holton wept.

"Imagine that, a 44-year-old man crying while watching TV," he said. He had watched the vote on C-SPAN 2. A day later, his cable provider cut him off because he hadn't paid the bill.

Holton is one of the 1.7 million long-term unemployed people missing out on federal benefits because Congress stopped providing them in December. Six years ago, he was making $85,000 per year at his job in tech sales. Today, the seams of his life are fraying.

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A registered Republican who says he votes "libertarian," Holton has found the experience "maddening." After being laid off in June 2013, Holton, who lives in Mason, Ohio, exhausted his six months' worth of state unemployment benefits, and only received a few weeks of federal insurance before it expired on Dec. 28.

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"I just want someone to have a freaking heart," he said, referring to members of Congress. "They are going home to a house where all the utilities are paid for, and we are here struggling."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/12/unemployment-benefits_n_4769558.html