English subtitles for clip: File:2014-02-22 President Obama's Weekly Address.webm

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The President:
Hi, everybody.

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Restoring the idea of
opportunity for all

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requires a year of
action from all of us.

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Wherever I can act on my
own, I will --

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and whenever I can ask more
Americans to help,

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I'll do that too.

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In my State of the Union
Address, for example,

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I asked more business
leaders to take action

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to raise their
employees' wages.

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Because even though our
economy is growing,

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and our businesses have
created about eight

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and a half million new jobs
over the past four years,

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average wages have
barely budged.

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So it's good news that,
earlier this week,

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one of America's largest
retailers, The Gap,

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decided to raise wages for
its employees beginning

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this year.

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Their decision will
benefit

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about 65,000 workers

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in the U.S. That means more
families will be able to raise

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their kids, finish their
studies,

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or keep up on their bills with a little

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less financial stress and strain.

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Gap's CEO explained their
decision simply -- he said,

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"[It's] right for our
brands, good for our

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people, and beneficial
to our customers."

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And he's right - raising
Americans' wages isn't

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just a good deed; it's
good business

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and good for our economy.

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It helps reduce turnover,
it boosts productivity,

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and it gives folks some
more money to spend

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at local businesses.

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And as a chief executive
myself, that's why I took

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action last week to lift
more workers' wages

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by requiring federal
contractors to pay their

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employees a fair wage of
at least $10.10 an hour.

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In the year since I first
asked Congress to raise

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the minimum wage, six
states have passed laws

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to raise theirs, and more
states are working

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on it as we speak.

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But only Congress can
finish the job

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and lift Americans' wages
across the country.

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Right now, there's a bill
before Congress that would

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boost America's minimum
wage

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to $10.10 an hour. That's easy
to remember - "ten-ten."

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That bill would lift wages
for more than 16 million

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Americans without
requiring a single dollar

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in new taxes or spending.

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But even though a
majority of Democrats,

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Independents, and
Republicans across the

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country support raising
the minimum wage,

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Republicans in Congress
don't want

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to give it a vote.

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Hardworking Americans
deserve better than "no."

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Let's tell Congress
to say "yes."

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Pass that bill.

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Give America a raise.

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Because here in America,
no one who works hard

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should have to live in
poverty --

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and everyone who works hard
should have a chance

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to get ahead.

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Thanks, and have
a great weekend.