that's the kind of folks who are running zingerman's. then afterwards, he held a sandwich summit here in ann arbor to help build support for michigan's minimum wage going up. paul's point is simple, fair wages and higher profits are not mutually exclusive, they can go hand in hanged. that's what henry ford understood. and paul zingerman opened his doors 32 years ago last month, but he and business owners like him believe that higher wages are good for the bottom line. i happen to believe the same thing, so, you know, i have decided several months ago that the federal government should follow their lead. and so i issued an executive ofrd. that requires federal contractors, folks who are doing business with the government, to pay their employees on new contracts a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour. it's the right thing to do. and i'm determined to do my part, to lift wages, improve take home pay any way you can. if you cook our troops meals, if you wash their dishes, your country should pay you a living wage. here's the challenge, what

. >>> before i came here today, i stopped at zingerman's, which is the -- which is the right thing toen you're in an arbor. i stopped for two reasons. the first is, the reuben is killer. so i ordered like the small, and it didn't look that small. i so i gave half to valerie jarrett, who's traveling with us, and then after i finished the half, i wanted the half back. but it was too late. it was too late! all she had left was the pickle. so i took the pickle. >> that was president obama speaking last week in michigan, having a really good time, apparently. that was the day after the house republicans introduced the newest version of the paul ryan budget. and the president was not only delighted about that, he was very, very eager to talk about it that day that he was in such a good mood. >> if this all sounds familiar, it should sound familiar, because it was their economic plan in the 2012 campaign. it was their economic plan in 2010. it's like that movie, "groundhog day." except it's not funny. if they tried -- if they tried to sell this sandwich at zingerman's, they would have to cal

before i came here today, i stopped at zingerman's, which is the right thing to do when you're in annstopped for two reasons. the first is, the ruben is killer. so i ordered like the small, and it didn't look that small. so i gave half to valerie jarrett who's traveling with us. and then after i finished the half, i wanted the halfback. but it was too late. all she had left was the pickle. so i took the pickle. but -- so one of the reasons i went was because sandwiches are outstanding. the second reason, though, zingerman's is a business that treats its workers well and rewards honest work with honest wages. and that's worth celebrating. and that's what i'm here to talk about today. how do we rebuild an economy that creates jobs and opportunities for every american? and i want to focus on something a lot of people in michigan are working very hard to accomplish right now, and that is raising the minimum wage to help more folks get ahead. now, here's the context. our economy is doing better. it's growing, our businesses are creating jobs. 8.7 million new jobs over the past four years.

if they try to sell this sandwich at zingerman's, they would have to call it the stink burger, or the mean-wich. >>> for the second day in a row, the new ceo of general motors was grilled on capitol hill on why the company waited more than a decade to recall more than 2 million cars. marry barra testified about the ignition switch issue linked to at least 13 deaths. barra named ceo in january after 30 years with the company was unable to answer numerous questions about the delayed action and lawmakers did not let up. >> i don't know. i want to understand why those actions were taken. i would like the complete investigation to be completed before i start making assumptions. >> i really hate to say this, but if this is the new gm leadership, it's lacking. >> i think we need to know whether you believe the company acted in the best interest of the consumers who bought your car and the u.s. taxpayers who bailed you out. >> this, to me, is not a matter of acceptability. this is criminal deception. >> barra was also faced with tough questions about why an engineer is still on the job on the

the second reason, though, is zingerman's is a business that treats its workers well.nd rewards honest work with honest wages. and that's worth celebrating. and that's what i'm here to talk about today. how do we rebuild an economy that creates jobs and opportunities for every american? and i want to focus on something a lot of people in michigan are working very hard to accomplish right now, and that is raising the minimum wage to help more folks get ahead. >> if this sounds like president obama back in campaign mode, this was absolutely president obama back in campaign mode. one point in the speech this week, he called out congressman gary peters by name as a champion of raising the minimum wage. he told everybody in the audience they should call the politicians who represent them in michigan and ask them if they support raising the minimum wage. it's because when democrats talk about the issue of raising the minimum wage, they not only like to talk about why they think it makes good economic sense, they also like to just talk about the fact that it's a really, reall

. >> before i came here today, i stopped at zingerman's which is the --- [ cheers and applause ] -- whichght thing to do when you're in ann arbor. i stopped for two reasons. the first is, the reuben is killer. so i ordered, like, the small, and it didn't look that small. so i gave half to valerie jarrett who's traveling with us and then after i finished the half, i wanted the half back. but it was -- it was too -- it was too late. all she had left was the pickle. [ laughter ] so i took the pickle. [ laughter ] but, so one of the reasons i went was because sandwiches are outstanding. the second reason, though, is zingerman's is a business that treats its workers well. [ cheers and applause ] and rewards honest work with honest wages. and that's worth celebrating. and that's what i'm here to talk about today. how do we rebuild an economy that creates jobs and opportunities for every american? and i want to focus on something a lot of people in michigan are working very hard to accomplish right now, and that is raising the minimum wage to help more folks get ahead. [ cheers and applause ] >>

. >> they tried to sell this sandwich at zingerman's, they'd have to call it the stink bird or the meanwich. >> he's trying to be funny there but he's also trying to make a serious point that the republicans would cut social programs and medicare. the democrats tried this in 2010 saying if the republicans take power this is what you get. what is there to have a reason to believe it is going to work in 2014? >> well, because it is not talking about health care. look, it speaks to the fact that democrats are looking for an issue what to run on which is the chief accomplishment of this president, at least democraticaldemocrati domestically. be it the koch brothers, issues for women or african-americans or hispanics, it is not what they aren't talking about. now that you've got some success on the affordable care act, are democrats going to be more emboldened to come out and at least try to put the republicans a bit on the defensive about the popular parts of the affordable care act. some of the polling on the individual parts of that law are very, very popular. democrats seemingly are scared t

if they tried to sell this -- this sandwich at zingerman's they'd have to call it the spink burger, orhe meanwich. now, to give them credit, they to have one original idea. which is, to repeal obamacare. because they haven't tried that 50 times. >> i want to bring in our washington bureau chief for the "chicago sun-times." political editor for the grio.com. it's no the something you hear from the president every day. words like stinkburger. "ground hog day" references, trying to get people's attention. is it working? >> it's, would go for the democratic base. it's working for the republicans who are running against obama obamacare becausemeans the lines are drawn sharply. he was having fun. it was a university crowd. a shout-out to the wolverines. can't hurt there. >> no. >> he knows the republican push for appeal is not going away. we know it from the paul ryan budget, from the proposal bobby jindal is putting out, thinking about running for president, so he is trying to deplate the issue. >> one of the things, obviously, perry, he's pushing, reason he was out there, minimum wage. and

they tried to sell this -- this sandwich at zingerman's, they would have to call it the stink about burger, or the meanwich. >> i mean, ryan, let's face facts. things could be a lot better if these guys would just get out of the way. the problem is not that the times are as bad as the obstructionists are determined and immovable. and they've got to get out of the way. that's the problem, ryan. >> yes. and the irony is that the republicans are always saying get the government out of the way. and if they would have just left government spend agent the level that it was in 2009 and 2010, we'd have probably millions more jobs today, at least hundreds of thousands more jobs. the deficit is falling at such a fast pace now that it makes you wonder what is going on here. why aren't republicans giving credit here for the deficit falling, and why isn't the unemployment rate coming down if the deficit was the reason that we had these high jobless numbers. now, clearly, that's backwards. when the economy is struggling, you need to run a higher deficit. republicans are never going to get behind that. b

if they tried to sell this sandwich at zingerman's they would have to call it the stink burger or thenwich. >> the one liners there. i think it's 51 times technical they have tried to repeal it. but how is paul ryan's budget being absorbed? >> you saw in the president in those clips something he doesn't always do which is convey a sense he is having fun with his job. he is clearly having fun there. and he's doing what democrats have wanted him to do. they wanted him to do more aggressively in 2010 and wanted him to do it more aggressively in 2012. which is go have a head-on debate about obamacare. past four years ago, the third election in a row, fundamentally that is the biggest domestic policy issue. in '10 and '12 it was unpopular so they kind of skirted past it. what they seem to want to do this time is take it head-on in this election and into paul ryan's in a foil. meaning the threshold, i'm sxang the social safety net. he had a fun doing it. >> john harris, good to see you. thank you. >>> was big papi's selfie with the president an elaborate marketing scheme? we will get the de

[laughter] jon: he had been to zingerman's sandwich shop ahead of that speech, that's where the linestoddard from the hill, jonah goldberg is editor at large with the national review online. we know, jonah, that the president is concerned about his legacy. he's in his last term. maybe saturday night live is in his future? >> whether yeah. look, point of personal privilege here, the guy is not funny. [laughter] jon: the crowd was laughing. >> actually, but if you see half the people e behind him, they're not even cracking a smile. i mean, not since thomas jefferson accused john adams of being a poopyhead have we heard such grade a material from a president. it was really pretty lame, i thought. of. jon: a.b., there are, obviously, seriously issues here. you know, the president is going out on the trail touting this lift, this hike this the minimum wage, $7.25 an hour right now to $10.10 an hour, but he never talks about where the money comes from. it's just like waving a magic wand and suddenly everybody in this country who's working becomes richer. >> well, president obama and his te