WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama was wrapping up his post-State of the Union tour by talking about how government can build “ladders of opportunity” into the middle class.
During remarks Friday at Hyde Park Academy in Chicago, his hometown, Obama is expected to discuss proposals to raise the federal minimum wage and pair businesses with recession-battered communities to help them rebuild and provide job training. He also was to talk about creating jobs for young people from poor families, and encouraging fatherhood and low-income couples to marry.
It remained to be seen whether the proposals have enough support to get through Congress.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, seemed unmoved by Obama’s appeals to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 to help workers paid at that rate escape poverty. Doing so, Boehner said, would cost jobs.
In this week’s State of the Union address, Obama appealed for help for urban and rural areas that have been plagued by high rates of youth unemployment or decimated by the loss of factories. He called on Congress to offer incentives to companies that hire people who have been unemployed for extended periods of time.
He promised that his administration would partner with 20 hardest-hit towns, working with local leaders to direct resources to public safety, education and housing, and proposed new tax credits for businesses that hire and invest. The president who grew up without a father also pledged to try to make it more beneficial financially for low-income couples to marry, and to do more to encourage fatherhood, including through working with the religious community and the private sector.
“America is not a place where chance of birth or circumstance should decide our destiny,” Obama said in the speech Tuesday night. “And that is why we need to build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class for all who are willing to climb them.”
Obama’s visit to his hometown follows the weekend funeral of the teenager who was killed days after she performed during Obama’s inauguration in Washington.
Fifteen-year-old Hadiya Pendleton was shot Jan. 29 about a mile from Obama’s home. Police say the majorette was the innocent victim of a gang-related shooting.
Michelle Obama attended Hadiya’s funeral in Chicago last Saturday. Her parents then sat with the first lady Tuesday during Obama’s State of the Union address.
Although the purpose of Obama’s visit was to promote economic and jobs proposals outlined in the speech, he was expected to also touch on the subject of gun violence, given the setting.
The trip was the third stop outside of Washington in as many days for Obama since Tuesday. On Wednesday, he traveled to Asheville, N.C., to make the case for raising the federal minimum wage. On Thursday, he flew to the Atlanta suburb of Decatur, Ga., to push his proposal to provide preschool for all 4-year-olds.
After Chicago, Obama will be headed to Palm City, Fla., to spend the long, holiday weekend relaxing with friends, the White House said. He is scheduled to return to Washington on Mon