Some Suggest Too High Now
Milwaukee – Not a single Republican candidate for president expressed support for even a small increase in the minimum wage during the Republican presidential debate last night. Martha Laning, Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, questioned whether any of the Republican candidates for president understand what those who are working to get into the middle class are facing.
“Many people are working two and three jobs just to make ends meets and the Republican Party now says we need to lower our wages to be more like other countries. Since when do we try to follow others down rather than lead the way forward?” asked Laning. “Our candidates all have plans to strengthen the economy and provide opportunities for everyone to get ahead.”
“From the very first question of the debate, Republicans let people know they aren’t interested in helping anyone but billionaires and powerful corporations who want to keep wages low. The bottom line is if we want more small businesses, people have to be able to afford to shop at those businesses,” said Laning.
“Every Democratic candidate for president supports raising the minimum wage because they know hard-working Americans are overdue for a raise. They know the only way we will continue job growth is by investing in the middle class,” said Laning.
Numerous Republican candidates rejected increasing the minimum wage at all during the debate last night and two of them even suggested wages are too high right now. The minimum wage has not been raised since 2009.
“Republicans don’t seem content to just cut taxes for powerful companies who ship jobs to low-wage countries. Now they want to reduce the wages of people right here in America,” said Laning.
“Our state is a prime example of what happens to an economy when you cut wages and refuse to invest in workers, but every candidate on stage last night embraced Governor Walker’s model that dragged Wisconsin’s economy down. We need to elect a Democrat for president in 2016 to continue the 68 months of job growth we have seen under President Obama,” concluded Laning.
