Don't Miss Sarah Jones's Essay On Kristi Noem Titled Predatory Is The Point On The Daily.
President Obama took aim at Senate Minority Leader McConnell today. During his speech on raising the minimum wage today, the president compared McConnell to an old man telling kids to get off of his lawn.
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVM2o9XJpRg&feature=share&t=24m9s
President Obama said:
You would think this would be a no brainer. Politically, you would think that people would be rushing to do this. Nearly three in four Americans support raising the minimum wage. Nearly three in four. Here’s the problem. Republicans in Congress, not Republicans in America, because some of them get paid the minimum wage, so they want to see it raised. Republicans in Congress don’t want to vote to raise it all.
In fact, some want to scrap the minimum wage. One House Republican said its outlived its usefulness. No, that’s what he said. No, no. Don’t boo, organize. That’s what you need to do. They may not hear the boos, but they can read a petition, and they can see votes.
You got some Republicans saying we shouldn’t raise the minimum wage because, they said this, because, well, it just helps young people.
Now, first of all, I think it is pretty good to help young people. I don’t know what’s wrong with helping young people. Folks who say that probably the thing you know, they’ll say get off my lawn!
I think it’s okay to help young people, but the fact is most people who would benefit from a higher minimum wage are not teenagers taking on their first job. The average age of people getting paid the minimum wage is 35. A majority of lower wage jobs are held by women. May of them work full time often to support a family, and by the way, what’s wrong with helping young people to get ahead?
President Obama never mentioned his name, but on the January 26, 2014 edition of Fox News Sunday, Sen. Mitch McConnell said, “Yes. But, of course, the minimum wage is mostly an entry level wage for young people. We have a crisis in employment among young people right now, and generation 18 to 30, people that got out of college, are finding there are no jobs for them. The last thing we want to do is have even fewer jobs for younger people.”
Without naming names, the president basically called Sen. McConnell a grouchy old man who doesn’t want to help young people. That pretty much sums it up. The Republican members of Congress have no interest in helping people in general, unless they are wealthy.
The president’s basic argument for raising the minimum wage is a powerful one, and making Mitch McConnell the face of the Republican Party is a brilliant move. McConnell represents everything that the American people don’t like. He has obstructed progress at every turn. He actively works against what the majority of the American people want, and he is completely owned by big money special interests.
Obama hit the nail on the head. Mitch McConnell does sound like an old man who is closer to telling those dang kids to get off of his lawn than doing anything productive in the United States Senate.
The president likely hasn’t forgotten McConnell’s statement that his top priority was to make Obama a one term president. The political worm has turned, as it looks more and more likely today that Obama is out to make sure that Mitch McConnell doesn’t get reelected.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
