Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) acknowledged at a campaign stop in New Hampshire that people can’t make ends meet on $10 or $11 per hour. However, he doesn’t support a minimum wage increase and offers no plan to help struggling Americans.
“I have the full confidence that the American private sector, made up of the most innovative and productive people on this planet, won’t just create millions of jobs,” said Rubio. “They will create millions of jobs that pay more. Because even the jobs that are being created now don’t pay enough. You can’t live on $10 an hour. You can’t live on $11 an hour.”
Instead of offering a plan to help Americans, Rubio lays his faith in the private sector and said that it should be up to businesses to pay employees more. Everyone knows that will never happen. When President Obama tried to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 per hour in 2013, Rubio opposed it. He said it wasn’t enough, but laws shouldn’t dictate that.
“I want people to make a lot more than $9,” he said. “Nine dollars is not enough. The problem is that you can’t do that by mandating it in the minimum wage laws. Minimum wage laws have never worked in terms of helping the middle class attain more prosperity.”
A minimum wage actually did help Americans prosper, but for the last 40 years the minimum wage has been outpaced by inflation and an increased tax burden on the middle class vis a vis corporate tax cuts.
For more on this story, visit Talking Points Memo “Rubio Says People Can’t Live On $11 Per Hour But Opposes Higher Minimum Wage”
