Page 38 - 0 10 News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Marry up a long-term service transportation bill with the keystone pipeline. maybe we don't go to $10.10 an hour on the minimum wage but something less than that and tie that to repeal of the medical device tax which is a job saving proposal. >> you sound like the kind of republican i grew up with. i mean that positively. the president made a pitch for higher stakes in politics. let's watch him here. >> i served in congress with many of you. i know many of you well. there are a lot of good people on both sides of the aisle. many of you have told me that this isn't what you signed up for, arg...

While many of the tough issues of 2014 are going to stay with us right into 2015 the new year is starting off with at least some very good news because you see the new year is not just a metaphorical new beginning, it's also the beginning of the calendar year in which hundreds of real monumental policy changes start making a difference in people's lives. this week about 2.3 million people got a pay raise as 20 states and the district of columbia increased their minimum wage. in addition to that employers of federal contractors around the nation will now pay a minimum wage of $10.10 an hour. in...

Extra $2,000 a year. that's a real chunk of money for a lot of americans. >> yeah the way to think of it is just multiply 2,000 times the difference. it's $1.25. they're making about $2,000 more a year right? >> right, right. >> when you get $2,000 more and you're, let's say, only making $8 an hour that's significant. as you're saying a big bump. so in the places the states where it's only 10 cent to 20 cent space, is that enough? >> it's not going to set them back. their purchasing power will be preserved. but i think in a lot of those states, we'll see a lot more group efforts. we saw a lot ...

Just under $9.50. that's still short of $10.10 the number president obama was pushing for. our guest is a national political reporter for msnbc. she wrote about this recently and joins us right now. there's a lot at stake here because many across the country are depending on the $1.25, depending on what could be only 15 cents, 17 cents. >> right. so in the 20 states that are seeing a minimum raise, 11 of the states are just due to inflation. so we're only going to see about 10 to 23 cents an hour of a raise. but in the other 11 states they're a direct result of the ballot initiatives or state ...

Argument. >> let me ask you about how this came aboutful i want to point to the fast food protests we have seen not just this year but the last two how much increases was driven by the fast food workers. >> a lot of it. i think it was a direct reaction to the federal inaction on being able to raise the minimum wage to $10.10. so i think the more we see the federal government not being able to raise that the more protest and demonstrations we will see, especially going into next year. >> so tomorrow 21 states. i want to turn to cities. some of the biggest increases are at the municipal level. s...