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Obama Highlights U.S. Economy in Labor Day Speech

"They say no to everything," President Barack Obama said of Congress, urging people to vote for representatives who would bring "progress."
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At a Labor Day event in Wisconsin Monday, President Barack Obama said, despite a stubborn Congress, and even though Americans "wouldn’t always know it by watching the news," the U.S. is progressing economically. "By almost every measure, the American economy and American workers are better off than when I took office," Obama said to a crowd at Laborfest in Milwaukee.

"The question now is, are we going to make the right decisions to accelerate this progress," Obama said, highlighting his dedication to an increased minimum wage, equal pay and union representation for workers. These policies and others "have two things in common: They're going to help more working families get ahead, and the Republicans who run our Congress oppose almost all of them," the president said.

"They say no to everything," Obama said, drawing "boos" directed at Congress from the crowd. "Don't boo, vote," he countered. Looking toward midterms, Obama said, "there are plenty of folks who count on you to get cynical and not vote." Obama urged the crowd to, instead, "rise together ... despite the opposition."

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— Elisha Fieldstadt