On January 28th, President Obama delivered the State of the Union address, outlining the Democratic vision of opportunity, action, and optimism for the United States.
As a show of his commitment to lifting up the middle class, President Obama announced that he will sign an executive order raising the minimum wage for employees of federal contractors to $10.10. This is consistent with trends in Washington, where voters approved raising the minimum wage in the City of SeaTac to $15 per hour last November. Governor Inslee has called for raising the minimum wage statewide, and House Democrats have introduced a bill to raise the minimum wage to $12 per hour.
Meanwhile, Washington Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers delivered the GOP response to the State of the Union, again pushing her party’s failed and out of touch obstructionist policies that put politics before people.
Valerie Brady Rongey, Vice Chair of the Washington State Democrats, released the following statement:
“Tonight, we saw a clear contrast between the President’s Democratic vision of progress and expanded opportunity and the Republican plan to take us back to the same failed policies of the past.
“At all levels of government, Democrats are working to strengthen the middle class and help working people through efforts like raising the minimum wage and extending unemployment insurance.
“Like her fellow Republican colleagues, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers – “Shutdown Cathy” – consistently puts the needs of the national party over the needs of her district. With her work to shut down the government, destroy the Affordable Care Act, discontinue food stamps, and obstruct the extension of unemployment insurance, she’s been an active agent in undermining policies that her constituents depend on. Our country deserves better than Republican politicians who only care about themselves, and the 5th Congressional District deserves someone who will represent them, not John Boehner and the Tea Party.”
