Republicans teeter between opposing any increase in the $15,000 a U.S. worker receives annually on the minimum wage, and opposing a federal minimum wage entirely. Working parents struggle every day to care for their families, put food on the table, and provide a basic level of comfort for their children. It’s hard enough with the minimum wage’s $7.25-an-hour, but Republicans continue to stand with the Koch brothers and in the way of helping working families by giving them a well-deserved raise.
Here’s what GOP presidential candidates debating tonight have to say about the minimum wage:
- Ted Cruz has twice voted against raising the minimum wage. Inexplicably, Cruz has gone so far as to claim that increasing the minimum wage would actually be detrimental to workers, saying, “I think [a wage hike] hurts the most vulnerable.”
- Marco Rubio’s admitted that “you can’t live on $11 an hour,” but that didn’t stop him from opposing raising it to $9 an hour and voting against increasing it to $10.10. Don’t hold your breath for Rubio to take a stand in favor of raising it, because he still doesn’t think it should be increased.
- Jeb Bush opposed raising the minimum wage back when he was governor of Florida and he continues to oppose any increases today. Jeb wants American workers to go ahead and just “work longer hours” instead.
- John Kasich wants to make sure “we don’t raise the minimum wage willy-nilly.”Maybe that’s why he wants to make it a state-level issue?
Published: Feb 6, 2016