Obama Stumps for Minimum Wage Hike at University of Michigan
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File photo. Pete Souza / The White House(ANN ARBOR, Mich.) — Following his Affordable Care Act victory lap on Tuesday, President Obama stopped at the University of Michigan Wednesday to push for a hike in the federal minimum wage to $10.10/hour before heading to Chicago for two fundraisers.
“Next week members of Congress have a fresh chance to show which side they’re on,” Obama said, referencing an upcoming Senate vote on a minimum wage hike. “You’ve got a choice: You can give America the shaft, or you can give it a raise.”
Obama congratulated the Michigan Wolverines on their Elite Eight NCAA run — and cracked a joke about sophomore guard Nik Stauskas, who Obama said was in attendance.
“I know Stauskas has got the contract coming up, so he’ll — he doesn’t have to worry about these things,” Obama said. The crowd cheered the reference, but some jeered and booed at the implicit suggestion that Stauskas should leave Michigan for the NBA draft.
“I’m saying later. I’m not telling him to leave,” Obama added. “I wasn’t editorializing on that.”
It was the latest installment in Obama’s post-State of the Union press for a higher federal minimum wage.
Republicans in Congress have said raising the minimum wage will hurt job creation, not help it. House Speaker John Boehner said last month that raising the minimum wage would take away the lower rungs of the economic ladder, making it harder for anyone to get on.
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