In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) didn’t mince words when he was asked about the minimum wage.
Journal Sentinel writer Daniel Bice said to Walker,
“You were asked [in Monday’s debate] if you thought someone could live on the minimum wage in the state, and you said we should be trying to come up with jobs that pay more than that. And then you said, ‘The way you do that is not by setting an arbitrary amount by the state.’ That sounds like you’re not a particular fan of the minimum wage. What is your position on the minimum wage? Should we have it?”
Walker responded,
“Well, I’m not going to repeal it, but I don’t think it serves a purpose because we’re debating then about what the lowest levels are at. I want people to make, like I said the other night, two or three times that.”
Walker’s main talking point against minimum wage, especially when it comes to raising it above the current $7.25 an hour, is that it hurts job creation. As Mother Jones pointed out, however, “The Congressional Budget Office has found that raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would eliminate 500,000 jobs but also lift 900,000 people out of poverty and boost earnings for 16 million people. Cities with higher minimum wages have also seen strong job growth in recent years. ”
Watch Gov. Walker’s full interview with the Journal Sentinel.
