On the campaign trail in California, Vice President Joseph R. Biden said Tuesday that the nation is “squandering opportunities” to grow the economy because Republicans continue to stand in the way of better wages for workers.
Speaking at a Los Angeles bakery, Mr. Biden again pushed one of the administration’s central economic agenda items — raising the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10. Los Angeles has taken steps to eventually raise its minimum wage to $13, and the vice president said the city should serve as an example to the rest of the country.
“What raising the minimum wage does — it’s sort of a building block. It creates a virtuous cycle” of growth, he said. “People are being left behind and we’ve got to go back and we’ve got to restore the middle class in order to help the poor, in order to help the working poor … It all starts with putting the minimum wage back somewhere — it’s not even equal — somewhere to where it is consistent to where it had been so people can actually work 40 hours a week and not live in poverty in the United States of America.”
While in California, Mr. Biden also will attend campaign events for Amanda Renteria, a Democrat running for the state’s 21st congressional district seat currently held by Republican Rep. David Valadao.
The vice president also will attend a closed-press Democratic National Committee fundraiser Tuesday evening. Mr. Biden increasingly has been stumping for Democrats running in November’s crucial midterm elections.
As he sought to rally Democrats, Mr. Biden said his “frustration level is exceedingly high” because the country is poised for massive economic growth but is being held back by an obstructionist GOP.
’We’re just squandering opportunities,” he said.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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