YOU ARE HERE: Home > Government > President Obama

President Obama's Weekly Address | President Obama’s Weekly Address: Give America a Raise

Uploaded 02/22/2014

President Obama’s Weekly Address: Give America a Raise

“President Obama says this is a year of action, and he will do everything he can to restore opportunity for all. The President already lifted the wages for federal contract workers, and he calls on the American people to tell Congress to finish the job by boosting the federal minimum wage for all workers to $10.10 and give America a raise.”

 

OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT

 

Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
The White House
February 22, 2014

Hi, everybody.

Restoring the idea of opportunity for all requires a year of action from all of us.  Wherever I can act on my own, I will – and whenever I can ask more Americans to help, I’ll do that too.

In my State of the Union Address, for example, I asked more business leaders to take action to raise their employees’ wages.  Because even though our economy is growing, and our businesses have created about eight and a half million new jobs over the past four years, average wages have barely budged.

So it’s good news that, earlier this week, one of America’s largest retailers, The Gap, decided to raise wages for its employees beginning this year.  Their decision will benefit about 65,000 workers in the U.S.  That means more families will be able to raise their kids, finish their studies, or keep up on their bills with a little less financial stress and strain.

Gap’s CEO explained their decision simply – he said, “[It’s] right for our brands, good for our people, and beneficial to our customers.”  And he’s right – raising Americans’ wages isn’t just a good deed; it’s good business and good for our economy.  It helps reduce turnover, it boosts productivity, and it gives folks some more money to spend at local businesses.

And as a chief executive myself, that’s why I took action last week to lift more workers’ wages by requiring federal contractors to pay their employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour.

In the year since I first asked Congress to raise the minimum wage, six states have passed laws to raise theirs, and more states are working on it as we speak.  But only Congress can finish the job and lift Americans’ wages across the country.

Right now, there’s a bill before Congress that would boost America’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.  That’s easy to remember – “ten-ten.”  That bill would lift wages for more than 16 million Americans without requiring a single dollar in new taxes or spending.  But even though a majority of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans across the country support raising the minimum wage, Republicans in Congress don’t want to give it a vote.

Hardworking Americans deserve better than “no.”  Let’s tell Congress to say “yes.”  Pass that bill.  Give America a raise.  Because here in America, no one who works hard should have to live in poverty – and everyone who works hard should have a chance to get ahead.

Thanks, and have a great weekend.

(c)2014 The White House | SCVTV
20 Comments for President Obama's Weekly Address: President Obama’s Weekly Address: Give America a Raise
  1. Emily Ball Emily Ball says:

    Stefano, we have common good friends on fb. You should not use profanity. It’s ugly. I am smiling because my agenda is winning.

  2. Jennifer a whole bunch of posts were erased. Mostly the ones that don’t agree with what they are pushing. They also erased a bunch from a previous post about the California drought.

  3. Did my previous post about remaining neutral in politics for the sake of remaining unbiased while reporting the news get erased?

  4. OMG that great president cost me my healthcare that I have had for 40 years, but it’s all good; I get to pay double and get it back. Oh, and looks like the illegals will get to sign up, too, and get a subsidy, Yay, Emily, I love it!

  5. Roses are red, violets are blue. Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi.

  6. You guys are all so brilliant! Scholars up in here!

  7. Tony it cracks me up how lost liberals are on economics.

  8. Tony Simone Tony Simone says:

    Minimum wage raises, so does the price of everything else basic economics, why does no one understand that lol

  9. Emily get your head out of your a*s. Benghazi was a complete failure by your boy. Worst recovery in history. Highest percent of people out of the workforce in the last 30 years , highest number of people on food stamps in history. , we are still stuck in a pathetic anemic recovery with our growth at near stall pace. Deficit is not down it just slowed thanks to the sequester cuts you guys demonize republicans for. Oh yeah and Obama just got rid of them. Man woman you are lost.

  10. Well even the CBO study says that will kill jobs. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised , with Obama’s track record of a jobless recovery might as well keep it going

  11. stay neutral in Politics otherwise your news will be perceived as skewed. BTW no one cares what he says anymore.. Empty promises

  12. Emily Ball Emily Ball says:

    Benghazi is not a scandal, unemployment is down, deficit is down, Obamacare is awesome. I respect our president. I hope Hillary runs in 2016!

  13. Tim Mills Tim Mills says:

    A lot of small business owners will be forced to close shop. This will put the country into some big problems

  14. Jim Oge Jr Jim Oge Jr says:

    Right on Paula Obama just set America further in the hole. This is good when liberals pay 25.00 to eat out by them self they can thank there vote.

  15. I thought SCVTV was supposed to be local news. Why are you shoving his propaganda down our throats. If you are going to report national news why aren’t talking about Benghazi, the high employment and debt, the train wreck obamacare etc.

  16. Ethan Jewell Ethan Jewell says:

    If min wage kept pace since 1970, it would be over 30 an hour today. Welcome to debt-based economics.

  17. Shane Weeks Shane Weeks says:

    What does this do to the people that worked hard to get from $7.75 to 10 an hour. Do they now have to start at minimum wage again?

  18. I don’t want to hear anything else this guy has to say.

Newest Uploads

See latest uploads here