Posted on 05/05/2016 7:26:06 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
WASHINGTON, May 5 (UPI) -- Soon after becoming the Republican Party's presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump said he would be open to raising the federal minimum wage in a notable reversal of GOP policy.
During a debate in November, Trump said he would oppose raising the federal minimum wage, which is currently $7.25 an hour.
"I hate to say it, but we have to leave it the way it is," Trump said at the time.
Speaking to CNN on Wednesday, Trump was asked about Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders' desire to raise the federal minimum wage to $15.
"You can't live on $7.25 an hour, right?" interviewer Wolf Blitzer asked Trump.
"No, and I'm actually looking at that because I'm very different from most Republicans," Trump said. "I mean, you have to have something that you can live on but what I'm really looking to do is get people great jobs so they make much more money than that, so they make ... much more money than the $15.
"Now, if you start playing around too much with the lower level number, you're not going to be competitive," Trump added.
"But you're open to raising the minimum wage?" Blitzer asked.
"I'm open to doing something with it because I don't like that, but what I really do like is bring our jobs back so they're making much more than $15," Trump replied.
Trump joins former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., as the only GOP presidential candidate who has shown support for raising the federal minimum wage, The Hill reported. Ben Carson briefly supported the policy before backtracking.
Trump's comments, although not concrete, point to a reversal -- or openness to reversal -- in a significant policy.
(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...
"No, I wouldn't be open to it." -- Trump's a rich, nasty misogynist, racist who doesn't care about the working poor.
Being ‘open’ to something means only that one wants to hear argumentation and input. it does NOT mean it is going to be done
The feral government needs to stay out of the states businesses.
Thank you for making that clear.
The headline is bogus. Trump is saying that he would bring back jobs that are worth &15 per hour, not raise the current minimum wage. Hamburger flipping is not a job worth that, are are not intended to be lifelong career choices.
They say everyone reaches their own level of incompetence, the rate of paying being what the employer is willing to pay for the task to be done.
This article at least includes the qualifying comments. The one posted yesterday didn’t.
Trump’s playing this right.
If anyone understands business in this race it’s Donald Trump. There is nothing wrong with raising the minimum wage if you’re going to lower business taxes as he also promised. The impact to the business could be minimum.
"You're fired"!
>>Then you cant live on $0.00 either, which you get more of with minimum wage.
But $0.00 makes you qualify for all sorts of welfare.
Bring GOOD jobs back so minimum wage jobs can go to teenagers who need gas money. Yes, that will hurt Wall St a bit, but the growing welfare state costs us all a hell of a lot more.
Thanks for pointing out that the article includes more of the exchange between Blitzer and Trump. That part of the transcript is not online at The CNN May 4, 2016 transcript page.
Totally agree that he is playing this right. It is a major issue in the DEM campaign, it is a major issue in the press, it is a major issue to Bernie supporters, and as part of "the deal," he would not be as attractive if the only thing he was offering was the possibility that good paying jobs (way better than minimum wage) would come back to the US.
It’s cold, hard political reality.
Trump is proposing a major corporate tax cut in order to get the economy jump-started. No way he can sell that to the voting public at this point unless he balances it with some wage and job security moves.
Companies will have to forego moving to Mexico and pay their workers a bit more if they want his help on taxes. That’s the nuts-and-bolts politics of it.
If you want a purist position on the minimum wage, get ready for a long, hard 2 to 3 decade slog of re-educating the public.
The number of times a headline is erroneous these days is disgusting.
This is a wise conversational tactic. It answers the Blitz question and says nothing. The functionality or lack thereof of answering the question is to move the convo forward, not to carve in stone a policy statement with Wolfy.
If the Alinsky tactic is to freeze something and then attack it, then if you say this is “straddling the issue” then there is no possible win. And the candidate being forced to declare something with certainty that he cannot guarantee in front of a spitball like Blitzer means that he not only has to pay a price later, but he ignites yet again a stupid unproductive fight among those who want him to adhere to an impossible standard and curse him when he doesn’t and those who recognize this is nothing but blather. Meanwhile, the same thing coming from a liberal is nothing but blather.
Why can’t people see this? Always complaining that libs get away with lying but Republicans must be held to a higher standard and set themselves up as fixed targets. It perpetuates exactly the thing you complain about.
Looks like he said:
Fix the job market and people will make more than 15 dollars an hour.
The headline is 180 degrees from the article. It is a HEADLIE.
The headline is 180 degrees from the article. It is a HEADLIE.
I see this as Trump inoculating himself against attacks from the left for the general election.
He adeptly sidestepped that. He did not say how much he would raise it. Nor did he make any commitment at all. He just took the issue off the table.
More like half of what he said. He did clearly say he was open to doing something with the minimum wage, and I assume we can agree he's not talking about lowering it. But he also said he wants to bring jobs back from overseas so people are making more than $15 an hour. How he will ensure that kind of wage he didn't say.
How?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.