President Obama signed an executive order Wednesday that raises the minimum wage for federal workers from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour. His executive order raises the minimum wage for federal workers hired under new contracts as he promised he would do in his State of the Union speech. It also raises the tipped minimum wage to $4.90 from $2.13 per hour. An escalator clause periodically increases the minimum.

Obama wants Congress to pass an equivalent hike to the federal minimum wage, the White House said. "The president is using his executive authority to lead by example, and will continue to work with Congress to raise the minimum wage for all Americans by passing the Harkin-Miller bill," the White House said in a statement. "The bill would raise the Federal minimum wage for working Americans in stages to $10.10 and index it to inflation thereafter, while also raising the minimum wage for tipped workers for the first time in over 20 years."

"It will give businesses more customers with more money to spend," Obama said.

Some Republican lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., argue it could hurt growth. "There's no question that the minimum wage increase, if not done in conjunction with some kind of incentives for the businesses not to lay off employees, are going to dramatically increase unemployment," McConnell said.

U.S. Rep. Martha Roby, R-Montgomery, chaired the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations into the September 2012 terrorist attack on the American diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans.

Leading the findings of an interim report released this week was: "In assessing military posture in anticipation of the September 11 (2001) anniversary, White House officials failed to comprehend or ignored the dramatically deteriorating security situation in Libya and the growing threat to U.S. interests in the region. Official public statements seemed to have exaggerated the extent and rigor of the security assessment conducted at the time."

Roby said the interim report shows Washington's failure to coordinate and communicate left the military in "an impossible position." Gen. Carter Ham, the area military commander, and others reported to the committee that they readily believed the events in Benghazi to be an attack, not a protest against a YouTube video that had spun out of control.

One key finding, Roby said, was the "striking" lack of effort by national security officials in Washington to communicate with commanders in the North Africa region leading up to the anniversary of 9/11. "Testimony revealed that, when the White House sent out a press release on September 10, 2012 assuring Americans we were prepared for the anniversary of 9/11, it did so without having consulted the commanders in the North Africa region. This is particularly concerning after developments in Egypt and Libya made North Africa among the most dangerous regions on the globe."

The committee report released Tuesday covered the military's preparedness and response or lack thereof to the attacks. Roby said the Benghazi investigation reveals lapses in preparedness and communication. "Responsibilities span agencies, military branches, but there is only one Commander-in-Chief," her press statement said.

"We took politics out of this investigation," Roby said in a television interview. "This was about what happened in the days and weeks leading up [to the attack], what happened that night, and what we can do to prevent it from happening again. This subcommittee was focused squarely in on military and DOD."

The Senate Intelligence Committee recently released its own Benghazi report, which criticized State Department officials for not heeding intelligence warnings, she said.

Congress increases nation's debt limit  

AL.com (Gore 2/12) "The U.S. Senate on Wednesday approved an increase in the country's debt limit, as a handful of Republicans joined with Democrats to push the no-string-attached measure through to President Barack Obama. Alabama's Republican Sens. Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby voted against the measure to increase the $17.2 trillion debt ceiling until March 2015. The bill ultimately passed on a party-line vote of 55-43. It now heads to President Barack Obama for his signature.

"The passage marks a win for the Obama administration, which said it would not consider any conditions on passage of a debt ceiling bill. The House passed a 'clean' version of the bill Tuesday after Republicans backed away from adding on additional measures. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said the country would have exhausted the extraordinary measures used to cover the country's obligations by Feb. 27. Failure to extend the debt ceiling would mean default on some obligations and delays for others ranging from veterans benefits to tax refunds.

"'This week's action combined with the two-year budget agreement and the omnibus spending bill - all of which passed Congress with bipartisan majorities - will provide certainty and stability to businesses and financial markets and should add momentum to the economic growth forecasted in 2014', Lew said.

"The change allows the U.S. to borrow the money it needs to cover its obligations through March, pushing the next budget ceiling battle until almost four months after the 2014 Congressional elections. The House narrowly passed legislation Tuesday evening to raise the debt ceiling, all but ensuring that the nation won't default at the end of the month. The 221-201 vote, carried by Democrats with just enough Republicans to push the bill over the finish line, represented a capitulation by House GOP leaders, who were forced to proceed with a 'clean' measure after their flock failed to unify on any alternative." (Alabama's sole Democratic U.S. Representative, Terri Sewell of Birmingham, was the only member of the Congressional delegation to vote to raise the debt ceiling. U.R. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, did not vote.)

Uncertainty from the Affordable Care Act Hurts Manufacturers  

National Association of Manufacturers (Lavoie 2/10) "After the U.S. Treasury Department announced the final regulations implementing the 'employer mandate' provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which included a delay until 2016 for businesses with 51-99 employees, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) Vice President of Human Resources Policy Joe Trauger issued the following statement:

Obama to propose  $1 billion climate fund  

Politico (Guillen, 2/14) "President Barack Obama will ask Congress to set up a $1 billion 'Climate Resilience Fund' in his proposed budget next month.

"The fund, according to the White House, would go to research on the projected impacts of climate change, help communities prepare for climate change's effects and fund 'breakthrough technologies and resilient infrastructure.'

"'It remains to be seen whether the administration can secure such a high figure from Congress for a climate fund not likely to attract widespread Republican backing.

"While no single extreme weather event can be attributed directly to climate change, Obama will stress the scientific understanding of how climate change makes events like the drought more extreme', said John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

"The administration's new push to address the drought comes a week after the Agriculture Department announced it would set up a series of 'climate hubs' across the U.S. to study climate change's impacts on agriculture and rural activities and develop mitigation and adaptation measures."