Obama to raise minimum wage for federal contractors

[BumRushDaShow]

Last edited Tue Jan 28, 2014, 08:42 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: CNN

Obama to raise minimum wage for federal contractors
Posted by
CNN White House Producer Adam Aigner-

(CNN) - While President Barack Obama’s attempts to increase the nation’s minimum wage through legislation have stalled in Congress, the White House announced plans on Tuesday to use the president’s executive powers to partially address the problem.

Just hours before the President is scheduled to deliver his fifth State of the Union address, the White House revealed that Obama will issue an executive order to increase the minimum wage for new federal contract workers.

The action will cover all workers employed under future government contracts, ensuring that none is paid less than $10.10 an hour. In a fact sheet announcing the action, the White House highlighted several occupations that will be helped by the move, including kitchen and laundry workers on military bases, as well as janitors at federal buildings and construction workers at government building sites.

“The President has embraced the idea in the past that he can use his authority as President and the powers available to the President to advance his agenda on behalf of the American people,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said at his briefing on Monday. “What we have said is that he views 2014 as a year of action and that he has tasked his team to come up with new ways in which we can - he can - advance that agenda.”


Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/01/28/obama-to-raise-minimum-wage-for-federal-contractors/?hpt=hp_t2

---

Great news as many have demanded this.

[Cha]

1. Thanks Obama! I mean

thank you Mr President!

thanks BRDS!

[weissmam]

2. works for me

[rurallib]

3. It's a start

[MannyGoldstein]

4. Excellent. Big thumbs up! nt

[dotymed]

5. $10.10 an hour

for federal contract workers....that is sad. It is better than the Wal-Mart wages they have been earning, but still not nearly enough.
Most of these jobs have owners or CEO's who get millions a year in pay.
When I was a sub-contractor (there are a handful of actual contractors and they take the lions share of the money and then "sub" the work out).
IMO, this is the problem. The contracts should be awarded to the people who actually do the work. At the least, the contractors should be limited in the amount of money they take (off the top) before hiring sub-contractors to do all of the work.
Federal work used to be mainly done by Union workers. They are (usually) well paid and well trained. I have observed that the further south you ago, the less money and training the workers get.
I do not have the graphics (I used to) that show how obscenely the contractors profit by just being a "clearing house" to hire workers.
Keep the wealthy screwing the workers...

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

9. Jesus Christ!!! It's not enough but it's a start. Give the guy a freaking break! GEEZ!!!

[dotymed]

16. Oh yeah, Nth dimensional chess, I forgot...

"Jesus Christ!!! It's not enough but it's a start."

Do you really think that Obama will revisit this issue and gradually increase the "not enough?"
How do these specks of crumbs actually convince some people that positive things are happening? WOW, I guess if you set your expectations low enough then this is a great accomplishment.

If our President really wants to make a difference, why not REALLY do it? Not some token gesture...

I know this does not fit into your narrative but maybe you should consider the question.

[SunSeeker]

20. A 40% raise is not "specks of crumbs." nt

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

24. No. I think the president is doing fine. Just fine.

[dotymed]

25. Eighty Five People

own more wealth than the combined wealth of the worlds poorest 35 Billion people.
Fast track that TPP we can concentrate wealth better than that.



Fine job...$10.10 an hour...

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

39. The president is doing just fine. He is not responsible for the inequality in this country.

I'm sure everyone would like to blame the black man for everything, but he is not responsible.

[dotymed]

69. Personally, I worked my ass off after bush

and the great promises of Obama, to elect Obama. Honestly, to me. His RACE had NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.
Who said that Obama was responsible for the inequalities in this country? This is an empty straw man argument. It is likely the most myopic post I have seen on DU.
President Obama was elected to (at least try very hard, which never happened) fix many of the inequalities in America and according to candidate Obama, he would fight to do so. Instead we witnessed him stay with the policies and even the same staff as bush.
When he "fought" for us, everything that the majority wanted and needed was given-up before the "negotiations" ever started.
Health care reform became for profit health insurance give-a-ways before anything else was "allowed at the table."
Skin color had nothing to do with that, or anything that his bamboozled supporters believed because, we believed in candidate Obama.

You are a "Liberal Stalwart?" WOW.....

[BumRushDaShow]

71. "Instead we witnessed him stay with the policies and even the same staff as bush."

The "Obama = Bush" meme is so 2012. Let's try a non-delusional argument, shall we?

The obsessive fixation on a single person with complete ignorance of his role in a tri-cameral government structure, further validates the complete lack of Civics knowledge by many on DU regarding the functions of government, and the reality of how a bill becomes a law.

The only ones "bamboozled" are those who embrace and demand implementation of the Unitary Executive - the far right and the far left.

[dotymed]

78. Are you talking about the "Constitutional Scholar"

or me????
The current DU posters sure seem awfully RED and uninformed... fucking "delusional" idiots.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

41. The black guy is not responsible for all that is wrong in this country. Blame those who are.

[dotymed]

70. MY GOD..."The black guy?"

WTF does color have to do with this? Who in the hell said that Obama ("the black guy&quot was "responsible for everything wrong in this country?"
President Obama got the popular vote because candidate Obama said that he would "put on his walking shoes" and protest the vast inequalities in America with US.
Instead President Obama has vastly increased the non-transparency in government and sided with the MIC and the corporatists over the majority of Americans.
I guess to some people, everything is about race.
Fortunately that is not the case on DU, it is not reality. It may be a GOP mindset but it is not reality.

[BumRushDaShow]

72. Yet "President Obama"

much to your and many others' chagrin, was re-elected - i.e., to a SECOND term. In 2012, he was a "sitting President" (not a 2008 "candidate&quot who had a near-4 year record of numerous but apparently ignored (by some) accomplishments by 2012.

The "Candidate Obama™" bullshit meme merely illustrates a lack of maturity with respect to dealing with the realities of governing and navigating the tri-cameral process, by making continual attempts to legitimize an ideological fantasy football-like construction of a government that far too many promulgate on DU.

Those who cling to the "Candidate Obama™" security blanket as a way to cloak their apparent total opposition to the individual, by making it appear as if it were some sort of "love affair gone wrong" costume, don't seem to get the fact that others see through the nonsense. So using one example where you wrote -

Obama....sided with the MIC

should mean that the U.S. was still in Iraq, which in "Candidate Obama™" bubble-world, apparently is the case, unless it requires the pretzel argument that this doesn't count because other things count more except when not counting on Thursdays in June.

Another ridiculous oft-repeated meme is -

Obama said that he would "put on his walking shoes" and protest the vast inequalities in America with US.

which ignores the fact that the President made 14 policy-related trips around the country in 2012 alone (excluding campaign-related stops).

If anything, he also holds the record of most trips made by a President around the world in his first & second years in office .

When you have a significant number of DUers who insist that -

1.) Larry Summers WOULD become the Fed Chair
2.) Syria WOULD be bombed
3.) Iran WOULD be bombed
4.) NONE of the Bush tax cuts would expire
5.) Social Security is already cut by chained CPI
6.) The Keystone pipeline is already built
7.) The TPP has been signed

and on and on....

all credibility is lost.

The "race" issue comes up because when one looks at the criticisms of past Presidents and compares with the criticisms of this President that often use racist RW talking points, invectives, pejoratives, exaggerations, and complete fabrications, while also insulting supporters with childish and culturally insensitive names, and while ignoring all but a narrow litmus test-strip of activities that are the only things allowed to be counted as actual "Accomplishments™", then this type of excessive use of argumentative terminology and claiming it to somehow be a valid "critique", fails as anything other than a hatred that transcends politics and policy.

[VanillaRhapsody]

27. they NEVER will....

they are expecting their magic ponies and flying cars at the end of the SOTU!

[Cal Carpenter]

45. Seriously. How dare people discuss the details of *policy* on a *political* website

How dare they.

[riqster]

11. OH NOES! He didn't raise it enough!!!

OBAMA SUCKS!!!!I'm Series, he am a corporate whore!!!!!! [URL=http://www.sherv.net/][IMG][/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://www.sherv.net/][IMG][/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://www.sherv.net/][IMG][/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://www.sherv.net/][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

Speaking seriously now, you'd think Progressives would understand "progress", wouldn't you? Positively amazing how many on the Left don't.

Good one, Mr. President. Thanks.

[BumRushDaShow]

13. "you'd think Progressives would understand "progress""

They're not progressives. They're libertarian leftists.

[riqster]

14. Point. I'd add this:

They are theoreticians. Reality is too complicated, too unpredictable, so they operate in a theory-based universe of their own creation.

[Schema Thing]

22. they're idiots, I'll say that; but a "libertarian" of left right or center

would argue ONLY for NO minimum wage, wouldn't they?

[BumRushDaShow]

46. No - RW libertarians want no government that impacts private interests

and LW libertarians want no government that impacts collective interests (and the collective tends towards unions and thus wages).

[VanillaRhapsody]

28. the Libertarian part says all I need to know....

they are also known by what is in my sig line...these "Libertarians of the Left" do not fool me for one second.

[dotymed]

17. Perhaps you should use your

spell check, learn some grammar and consider the difference between a token gesture and one that actually makes a difference.

When I earned (it's been a few decades) my B.S. in Literature and enjoyed my college classes in Logic, I must have had different Professor's than you.

[riqster]

18. Amusing that you lecture me on spelling and grammar, and

misuse an apostrophe ("Professor's &quot .

How to destroy your own credibility - lecture someone on a given topic, and demonstrate your own lack of competence with respect to that topic.

As to this being a "token" gesture -ask anyone who has gotten a raise of between $2.00 and $3.00 an hour, and see if they think that raise didn't make a difference.

You might not think it helps a worker to get a raise of that sort of a percentage, but real workers in the real world need such increases. Of course they deserve more, but they aren't dumb: they will take the money and use it, because it's more than they were getting before Obama made a real difference with this executive order.

[dotymed]

79. Sarah? Michelle?

[riqster]

80. So, you have no evidence to support your case?

Have a wonderful day.

[VanillaRhapsody]

29. So would a Republican do this?

then it IS progress...

prog·ress
noun
ˈprägrəs,ˈprägˌres,ˈprōˌgres/
1.
forward or onward movement toward a destination.

[Herself]

6. can you smell the hair on fire?

At the end of December 2013 Obama had used the EO 167 times.
He rarely uses it, but when he does, the pyro's in the gop just can't help but set themselves on fire!

[davidpdx]

7. Good to hear

That will mean in states that the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 an hour, will go up to $10.10 for government contractors.

20 states pay the federal minimum wage
4 states have a minimum wage lower than the federal minimum wage
5 states have no minimum wage

A nice interactive map:

http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm

[ChazII]

61. Arizona is green and my son

who has worked at our local grocery store that is part of a chain makes $7.90 and hour. He has been at the store for 5 months.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

8. All those people who didn't even give President Obama a chance to make an announcement before

they bashed him.

Thanks again, President Obama. I always knew you were going to do the right thing. Never mind the haters.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

10. Obama was criticized for not using the executive powers available to him.

He's been in office closing in on 6 YEARS, not 6 days, weeks, or months. The very vocal on this board proclaimed he "doesn't have a magic wand," but he does, indeed, have a magic pen, as others have repeatedly pointed out. It's about time he start using the powers available to him. For good, that is...

He's also been "bashed," rightly so, for Bush administration holdovers in his administration. That hasn't worked out very well for him.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

23. ...and blah, blah, blah. He is doing just fine.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

26. Obama is, sure. But those contractors making shitty wages...

certainly aren't doing so "fine."

$10.10 is at least a start. Just happy Obama finally got a clue -- in January 2014.

[VanillaRhapsody]

31. He is much more "clued in" than you will ever give him credit for...

he is not a magician....

[WorseBeforeBetter]

33. He found his magic pen, VR,

just as many on this board urged him to do FROM THE START. Amazing, huh?

[VanillaRhapsody]

35. He has to have something TO Veto....he should be judicious with EO's

You think Congress would let him do anything else? And how long has it taken to get the vast majority of Americans to believe we NEED to raise the minimum wage..THAT is new!

much to your dismay...he is NOT a magician.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

42. "You think Congress would let him do anything else?"

Poor, powerless Obama... is that really how you want to portray him? Again, magic pen found:

"I've got a pen and I’ve got a phone -- and I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions that move the ball forward."

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/01/14/3532113/obama-to-congress-were-not-waiting.html#storylink=cpy

FINALLY. On an issue as critical as wages, why wait for the rest of the country to catch up to the rest of us? LEAD. You're wrong about Americans and the minimum wage. Google polling data from the Clinton years forward. And who consistently polls the highest in favor of an increase? Those pesky libruls!

$10.10 is shit in areas like Washington, DC, but again, it's a start. I'm thrilled that many workers may soon be getting some relief.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

40. Again, the black guy is not responsible for all that is bad in this country. Point the finger

at those who are responsible.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

43. Weak.

Just like when Melissa Harris-Perry trotted it out.

[treestar]

56. Not politically smart to do any of it

Until Congress has been intransigent

[WorseBeforeBetter]

66. So what was the magic date in which Congress became "intransigent"? (n/t)

[treestar]

77. maybe after the budget hang up and the debt ceiling nonsense

and the proven history of filibustering every single thing? The opposing things just to oppose them?

Doing it right away would have been in bad faith, but doing it after Congress proved it was not going to be reasonable in the least makes sense.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

82. According to this, it's been since Day 1.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4416942

And the usual suspects cheer nonsense.

[JoePhilly]

15. The perpetually disgruntled are already busy moving the goal posts.

[alcibiades_mystery]

32. They don't even understand that they're being total shitheads

It's actually an amazing thing to watch.

[VanillaRhapsody]

37. Nope...any chance to slam the Dem. President seems to be the ONLY mode they have...

it speaks volumes...

[JoePhilly]

48. The other day on DU ...

... one of the perpetually disgruntled predicted that the BOG would defend ANYTHING that the President said tonight.

And then went on to explain how they did not care what he said, because they already knew he'd be lying.

So basically, this dope preemptively attacked supporters of the President for automatically supporting the speech he had yet to give ... while attacking the speech that he had yet to give.

Hilarious.

[treestar]

57. no kidding

[mopinko]

12. something i know cuz he is my homie

recently confirmed for me in johnathon alter's book-

he gets bored. he tried to play by the old rule book. he should have succeeded spectacularly, according to the old rule book. but we all must admit that they threw the rule book away. the harder he played it, the more they changed it, and he hates to lose at games. and he sees d.c. as one big game.
so, he is flipping through the actual rule book. his rule book. the constitution. and playing it his way. beating them at the game.

but always with the real goal of helping the american people.

(i predict he comes back home to chicago and enrolls the girls at the lab school. i think he can't wait to be done.)

[SunSeeker]

19. Excellent. That's about a 40% raise for the folks currently making $7.25/hr. nt

[whopis01]

47. Not necessarily for the ones currently making that much.

It only applies to new contracts. No one on an existing contract is getting a raise because of this.

Over time as contracts come up for bid it will apply across the board of course. However the existing contracts could have years to go before this will have any effect.

[SunSeeker]

50. Well of course. The government must comply with existing contracts.

But if the contractor wants to amend the contract because, say, materials have gone up or whatever, and they do that all the time, that gives the government an opportunity to put in that requirement. And like you said, even if the contracts are not amended, they will eventually expire. In my experience, it is rare for a government contract, particularly for services (which is more likely to employ low wage workers) to extent more than one year at a time. The government only likes to commit for 1 fiscal year at a time. The real problem with this is that, like all executive orders, it can be changed by the next President, and definitely will be changed if the next President is a Republican. However, considering the brick wall that is the Republican congress, this is our only option.

[awoke_in_2003]

21. Good start. K&R. nt

[Tarheel_Dem]

30. K&R

[hack89]

34. It will work as long as the government is willing to pay more for services

if not, the companies will simply bid fewer people to do the same amount of work.

[Munificence]

36. Yes you nailed it.

One thing I used to have to do in the private industry was to "show my cost" for a large company I was quoting work for (I owned a business).

They let you shoot for a 20% gross profit and you'd net around 6-10% (Which is real common in business). I think the government should do exactly the same with contractors.

[SunSeeker]

49. Employers do that ALREADY. Now the workers they've been overworking will get 40% more pay. nt

[hack89]

51. Not if the government doesn't give them more money in their contracts

The President said nothing about increasing department budgets to pay for this.

[DoBotherMe]

52. If the contractors want to work for the government

they have to accept what the government will pay (bidding you know) and pay their workers the wage that is set forth by the Feds. There will be a reduction in income somewhere, but it won't be the worker. Dana ; )

[hack89]

53. Federal contracts usually guarantee a set profit for companies

Which is very important when you realize that the companies that are hiring minimum wage workers are usually minority or women owned small businesses. I can assure you that this does not impact the large corporations - there is no real profit in providing janitors, food service and other low wage services.

[SunSeeker]

54. Gee, maybe they can take it out of their bloated CEOs' salaries....

[hack89]

55. This won't impact the big companies

The contracts for services that require minimum wage workers are usually reserved for minority or women owned small businesses. There is not enough profit in such contracts for large corporations to be interested.

[SunSeeker]

58. If a business can't pay $10/hr, it should not be in business.

It is immoral to pay workers less than a living wage. And it forces taxpayers to make up the difference via food stamps, housing subsidies, etc. In the 1960s, the minimum wage was more than $10/ hr in today's dollars and businesses did just fine. But CEOs got paid less.

I wish you would wring your hands over the exploited low wage workers as much as you do about the profits of their exploiters.

[hack89]

59. Federal contracts limit the amount of profit companies can make

There is not a lot of money in janitorial or food services. The companies will bid at the new wage level. If the government doesn't budget for those new wage levels then the companies will use fewer workers.

You are right - it is immoral. Let's hope the government proves the money for those wages.

[SunSeeker]

60. Raising the mininum wage creates jobs, it does not cost jobs. nt

[hack89]

62. Not if the government doesn't increase the monetary size of the contracts

If the contract does not go up by 40% then how do you keep every job and give everyone a 40% pay raise?

[SunSeeker]

63. The cost of low wage labor is NEVER 100% of a business' costs.

The assertion that their overall costs will increase by 40% is wrong, but you hear that lie from the Right all the time.

As I said, you can take it out of bloated CEO pay.

[hack89]

64. We are talking about small businesses - there is no bloated CEO pay to take it from

Usually women or minority owned - the contracts are government set asides designed to promote small companies. Many would not survive without government contracts. Big companies don't care for these contracts - the profit margin is razor thin.

[SunSeeker]

65. Even for small businesses, low wage labor is a small percentage of costs.

If you cared about women and minorities, you would applaud an increase in the minimum wage.

I am glad the President cares about women and minorities--as he cares about ALL Americans. His SOTU speech was magnificent. You should listen to it.

[hack89]

68. I support the wage increase

Just pointing out that the government has to follow through and make the money available.

[SunSeeker]

73. Riiight. And no, the government does not have to "make money available."

The businesses need to address the lopsided pay structures of their organizations that are producing the unsustainable income inequality in our country. Our government should not pay contractors more just so they can perpetuate their unfair pay structures.

[hack89]

74. Do you understand how government service contracts work?

the government says "I need a contractor to provide the following service. Your maximum profit will be %" The contractor says "I can do it for this $$$. I will bid X workers at $ per hour. "

The company with the lowest bid wins. That company has to show that they hired x workers and are paying them $ per hour. The government will also ensure that the company does not exceed the max profit. The companies are limited in how much management overhead they can charge.

Many of these small companies have no other source of income other than what they get from the government. They are small mom and pop companies whose owners are not getting rich. So they will take what the government gives them, remove their profit and management overhead, and spend the rest on workers wages.

[SunSeeker]

75. Yes. Do you?

You seem to assert it is impossible for businesses to have a flatter pay structure. You offer no proof that is the case. Certainly it was flatter before Reaganomics and can be again. Invoking the "mom and pop" is a standard right wing talking point used to justify policies that really only benefit the 1%.

[hack89]

76. I give up. You win. nt

[BlancheSplanchnik]

44. yes!!!!!!!

Great move!!!

Wish he could regulate media lies!

[JoeyT]

67. Good news.

Shame the thread rapidly devolved into a personality cult screaming about how awful liberals are, as usual.

[Sunlei]

81. Could help get the Fed. minimum raised for all faster and get more USA citizens hired.

Contractors have to pay even their foreign visa worker crews basic minimum wage.

They probably fought/lobby very hard against raising minimum wage.

Wonder if " federal gov. paid contractors" can still use or use prison labor from those private prisons?