US Economy: Obama Pushes For Increase In Minimum Wage, 'Economic Patriotism'

President Obama Monday pushed for an increase in the minimum wage to $10.10 and urged Americans not to "reward companies that ship jobs and profits overseas" in a Labor Day speech before an outdoor crowd in Milwaukee. Obama chastised Republicans in Congress for blocking legislation to raise the minimum wage, urging the crowd to keep pushing for it and assuring that eventually "we’ll break those folks down."

"That’s how I got Michelle to marry me -- I just wore her down," Obama told the Laborfest crowd at Henry Maier Festival Park. In a reference to recent deals that have seen U.S. companies buy foreign competitors and then move their headquarters overseas to reduce their tax bills, Obama said companies in the United States are the ones that should be rewarded.

"America is responsibility. America is sacrifice. America is looking out for one another. Let’s embrace some economic patriotism that says we rise or fall together as one nation, as one people," he said. "Don’t reward companies that ship jobs and profits overseas."

Obama went through the litany of how the economy has improved since he took office in 2009, highlighting the 10 million jobs that have been created since then.