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Michigan Minimum Wage Should be Raised, Says Obama

President Obama wants to raise the minimum wage in Michigan by almost three dollars. As he said in his State of the Union address given in January, the president believes doing so can help people out ...
Michigan Minimum Wage Should be Raised, Says Obama
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  • President Obama wants to raise the minimum wage in Michigan by almost three dollars. As he said in his State of the Union address given in January, the president believes doing so can help people out of poverty. The republicans on the other hand, see it doing just about the opposite.

    In a speech he gave at the University of Michigan on Wednesday to a crowd of about 1,400, Obama cracked jokes about the Republican Party and touted the importance of his proposal to increase minimum wage.

    “You’ve got a choice,” the president said in his speech. “You can give America the shaft, or you can give it a raise.”

    Obama’s proposal would increase the minimum wage amount from $7.25 an hour to $10.10. The state of Michigan already has an effort in place to address the subject on the November ballot. The state wants the state minimum wage to increase from $7.40 to $10.10. According to polls, this initiative is popular among voters, particularly those who have been hit hard by tough economic times.

    The White House believes raising the minimum wage in Michigan will help more than 970,000 voters in the state. Republicans who oppose the plan, however, believe raising the limit will result in over 500,000 jobs being lost.

    Here’s what Twitter thinks about the raise:

    Senator Richard J. Durbin, a democrat from Illinois, says he plans to bring the proposal up for a vote as early as next week.

    “If it doesn’t pass — at that stage, procedurally or otherwise — we need to be open for conversation,” Durbin said in an interview. “But first, we want to make our stand for what we believe to be a fair minimum wage for all Americans.”

    Republican Senator Susan Collins from Maine has been vocal about her opposition regarding the raise. She claims the proposal will not pass because the increase is too high. Instead, she plans on proposing a smaller increase, in addition to tax break renewals for small business that qualify.

    Image via YouTube

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