The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
January 30, 2014

Study: Fair Minimum Wage Double Obama-Backed $10.10 
----------------------------------------------------


 
President Obama hit the road Wednesday one day after his State of the
Union vow to take executive action should Republicans thwart his efforts
on economic progress. Speaking at a Costco store in Maryland, Obama
touted his plan to boost the minimum wage of federal contractors to
$10.10 an hour.

President Obama: "Now some of my ideas I will need Congress, but America
can't just stand still if Congress isn't doing anything. I'm not going
to stand still either. Wherever I can take steps to expand opportunities
for more families I'm going to do it, with or without Congress. Nobody
who works full time should ever have to raise a family in poverty and
that is why I firmly believe it's time to give America a raise."

Obama is also backing a Congressional bill that would raise the minimum
wage for all Americans to $10.10. But a new analysis from the Center for
Economic and Policy Research says that if the minimum wage were kept in
line with productivity gains since 1968, it would now be more than
double that amount, at $21.72.

 

.