Minimum wage hike blocked by Senate GOP. Obama fires back.
| Washington
U.S. President聽Barack Obama聽blasted聽Senate聽Republicans on Wednesday just hours after they blocked one of his top legislative priorities, a 聽federal聽minimum聽wage hike that would be the first since 2009.
"They (Republicans) prevented a raise for 28 million hard-working Americans. They said no to helping millions work their way out of poverty," Obama said at the聽White House, backed up by low-wage聽workers.
On a nearly party-line vote of 54-42, Obama's聽Democrats聽fell short of the needed 60聽Senate聽votes to end a procedural roadblock against a聽White House-backed bill.
The legislation would raise the聽minimum聽hourly聽wage聽from its current $7.25 to $10.10 per hour during the next three years, and then index for inflation in the future.
Just one Republican, Senator聽Bob Corker聽of聽Tennessee, joined聽Democrats聽in voting to advance the measure.
Senate聽Majority Leader, Democrat聽Harry Reid聽switched his vote from yes to no to reserve his right to bring up the bill again.
With polls showing that more 60 percent of Americans support raising the聽minimum聽wage,聽Democrats聽intend to hammer away at the issue in an effort to rally their liberal base in advance of the November congressional elections.
"Change is happening, whether Republicans like it or not," Obama said. "And 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, make your voices heard."
The non-partisan聽Congressional Budget Office聽estimated that the bill would raise the wages of 16.5 million Americans and lift 900,000 of them out of poverty.
But it also estimated the bill could cost up to 1 million Americans their jobs because businesses may simply be unable to afford to pay them.
Republicans on Monday cited a Bloomberg Poll in which 57 percent of respondents said it was an "unacceptable" trade-off if the bill raised the incomes of 16.5 million Americans while eliminating 500,000 jobs.
Democrats聽argue an increase in the聽minimum聽wage聽would boost the economy overall by getting more money into it.
"Millions of American workers will be watching how United States senators vote today,"聽Senate聽Democratic Leader聽Harry Reid聽said before the vote. "They'll be observing to see if we ensure all full-time workers in this country receive livable wages."
Senate聽Republican Leader聽Mitch McConnell聽mocked聽Democrats, saying: "They don't even pretend to be serious about jobs anymore."
The聽Democrats' "true focus" was on "making the far left happy - not helping the middle class," McConnell said. (Additional reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Jim Loney and Gunna Dickson)
