Obama slams GOP over minimum wage vote
Washington (CNN) - A day after returning from his trip to Asia, President Barack Obama swung back into mid-term campaign mode in a fiery attack on Senate Republicans who blocked a bill to raise the minimum wage Wednesday .
"If your member of Congress doesn't support raising the minimum wage, you gotta let them know they're out of step and if they keep putting politics ahead of working Americans, you'll put them out of office," Obama said.
[twitter-follow screen_name='politicalticker']twitter-follow screen_name='JimAcostaCNN']
The President's comments came just hours after nearly the entire Senate GOP caucus voted in support of a filibuster thwarting a Democratic-led measure to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour.
In a campaign style event at the White House, the President introduced the new Twitter hashtag #1010means to encourage Democrats to take the fight over the minimum wage on to social media.
"So my message to the American people is this – do not get discouraged by a vote like the one we saw this morning. Get fired up, get organized, get your voices heard."
Republicans argue raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour would damage the nation's fragile recovery. Several GOP lawmakers took note of fresh economic data released Wednesday indicating the economy grew at a sluggish 0.1% in the first quarter of 2014.
"They seem to think they can coast on talking points and stale ideas – and that the American people haven't been paying attention to their recent dismal record at actually helping the people they claim to care about," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said.
In his remarks on the failed vote in the Senate, Obama made a pitch to restore emergency unemployment benefits and assailed Republicans for their attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, two key Democratic lines of attack for the upcoming mid-term elections.
President signs executive order on minimum wage
The President also praised states that have raised the minimum wage on their own, including Hawaii, Connecticut and Maryland.
Following Obama's speech, supporters chanted "raise the wage," giving the White House event even more of a campaign feel.
When is the GOP going to learn that when people have more to spend,everybody is going to benefit.Pass the hike in the minimum wage.
""They seem to think they can coast on talking points and stale ideas "
*Ahem*...you mean like "tax cuts for the wealth help create jobs" and "trickle down economics" and "deregulation deregulation deregulation, because the markets will regulate themselves just fine" and "Benghazi this, Benghazi that, Benghazi with a wiffle ball bat" and " socialism" and "death panels" and "liberal lamestream media" and "targeting conservatives" and "zomg, nuh uh, YOU'RE the racists" and "taxes are economic slavery" and "the deficits and debt are all Obama's fault and 2001-2008 never happened" etc? Those kinds of talking points and stale ideas?
@Sniffit
""They seem to think they can coast on talking points and stale ideas "
*Ahem*...you mean like "tax cuts for the wealth help create jobs" and "trickle down economics" and "deregulation deregulation deregulation, because the markets will regulate themselves just fine" and "Benghazi this, Benghazi that, Benghazi with a wiffle ball bat" and " socialism" and "death panels" and "liberal lamestream media" and "targeting conservatives" and "zomg, nuh uh, YOU'RE the racists" and "taxes are economic slavery" and "the deficits and debt are all Obama's fault and 2001-2008 never happened" etc? Those kinds of talking points and stale ideas?
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OMG – some days the tin foil hate barrage looks just like that! Well done, well done.
[R]ipping the [R]s a new [R]ear-end. Good luck, Obama, berating and beating the already beaten and berated. They deserve it.
These neo-Teatard 'mo[r]ans' are like the Black Knight in Monty Python's the Holy Grail.
No minimal wage increase for workers. They do not deserve it!
Yes to tax cuts for the rich. They desperately deserve it!
Atte: GOP.
The stark light of the proven failures of [R] economic stupidity is outshone only by their proven stupidity in EVERY other area of modern civilized life.
I've always wondered what an idiot looks like. They look like all of those people behind Obama when he uses for stage props at his public events.
Yep these GOP representatives don't want to raise the minimum wage but are the first to cut food stamps. Prices of all goods go up but yet people are making the same wage and is expected to still afford the bare essentials like milk and bread. They wonder why so many people are on food stamps but yet Congress passes a bill for tax breaks for the rich, not paid for I might add. Hypocrites!!!
"neo-Teatard"
TeaTROLL (or some other variation), please. You know better.
Anybody who thinks this would help anybody but federal goverment needs to take an economics class. Raising the min. wage will not solve the poverty issue, it will just cause products, utilities, and services to rise as well. If there was really no negative effects in raising min.wage almost $3 in one swift stroke we would have done it already. This nothing but a liberal lie and a sad attempt to get min.wage workers to hate anybody who isn`t a democrat. What disgusts me more than anything is dems could care less about poor people, they(and the GOP) only care about staying in office or gaining more power.
The GOP pushes for creating more jobs not less. Also, Starbucks is real vocal about social issues-why haven't they lead the way to higher pay?
@Amused
"I've always wondered what an idiot looks like. They look like all of those people behind Obama when he uses for stage props at his public events."
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How do they find these people? Does Amazon have two day delivery on idiot packs? How do they get them all in the box?
@Amused
I've always wondered what an idiot looks like. They look like all of those people behind Obama when he uses for stage props at his public events.
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That is a new one on me. Politics? Policies? Philosophy? No "Amused" doesn't like the way the people behind Obama look. Obama haters are creative if nothing else.
"OMG – some days the tin foil hate barrage looks just like that! Well done, well done."
What's more, I had to cut it short or I could've gone on and on and on with it. Captain Chinless was just engaged in more Teatroll projection, but he truly provided a great opportunity for ranting proof of it.
That the GOP would just vote to waste time with a filibuster, is quite annoying actually. Like you said Steve the more money people have the more they will have to spend. I don't really understand why the republicans don't like this measure since it would mean less people having to have so much federal aid.
I sincerely hope the GOP didn't vote to pass a filibuster on the measure since it's a democratic measure.
In my opinion both democrats and republicans should try and work together. It might sound silly but it seems like something they never end up doing.
The American people are not stupid. Democrats think they can manufacture these idiotic political issues to distract and deflect from their massive economic failure and the disastrous Obamacare fiasco. We keep electing Democrats we will ALL be making minimum wage because there will be no jobs left if they continue their insane policies of re-distribution. The country needs GROWTH policies, not steal and giveaway policies.
Try to pass a bad bill........get rejected.
That's reality.
Read and understand why they voted no, and I don't mean by reading CNN, either, unless you want to only know the political slant on why they should have voted yes.
A February study by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that estimated the increase to $10.10 could have the effect of eliminating about 500,000 jobs. This is in addition to the jobs already lost in the last 6 years – only 63.2% are employed today, over 11 million people can't find work after looking for 27 weeks or have to take a part time job because they can't find full time.
But let's make the jobs that do exist, pay more. Dumbest idea, ever.
A February study by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that estimated the increase to $10.10 could have the effect of eliminating about 500,000 jobs. This is in addition to the jobs already lost in the last 6 years – only 63.2% are employed today, over 11 million people can't find work after looking for 27 weeks or have to take a part time job because they can't find full time.
But let's make the jobs that do exist, pay more. Dumbest idea, ever.
"Yep these GOP representatives don't want to raise the minimum wage but are the first to cut food stamps."
Yeah, I know. Nothing like walking into our local WalMart only to be greeted by that 72 year old working for peanuts. GOPerville compassion know no bounds.
Do they scoff at themselves when they see such people trying to get by in life? Or have they convinced themselves these folks are "making a difference" and enjoying themselves?
Do a lot of the people on this post really don't get the idea that their knee jerk ideas of doing something with someone elses money... Progressives and their lame allies have this country so much more deeper in trouble than 6 years ago it is astounding you don't hide in shame... Stop with the self defeating lies.
This could be the mid-term that breaks the accepted wisdom that Democrats don't turn out. Maybe, just maybe, the stench has gotten so high that people will get off their duffs and vote.
why is obama trying to put another 500,000 – 1,000,000 people out of work??? haven't they done enough damage to our economy and jobs over the last 6 years? or are these just old, junky jobs that are not good enough for people to hold?
Yup, raise the wage and the only people who will see it is the GOV. you will pay more in taxes.
more taxes makes the GOV happy.
We need more incentives to keep companies from growing and hiring!
We need higher ObamaCare employee taxes so more illegal immigrants can get the healthcare they need paid by American tax dollars!
We need higher minimum wages so companies can no longer expand and put the increased costs onto the consumer!
Somewhere there are two businesspersons discussing where in the world to open their headquarters. One of them looks up and says,"How about the United States?" The other person looks up and says, "Are you kidding me?! Labor costs are way too expensive!"
Sound like a bad joke? Yes. The joke is on you and all Americans!