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 ...
The bottom line is nobody knows what Trump will do, including Trump, because he's been all over the board in his positions......he's a “responder” to the moment at hand....and how it “feels” to him. That's not going to change because of the nature of his personality.
I also don't think the deep supporters of Trump can be shaken by anything he does or says. Just as the Obama supporters are with him.
RE: It does not matter what Trump says now. He really is an unknown quantity. No one of us knows what he will do in office
Are you saying that just like Pelosi on Obamacare: “You’ll just have to vote for it to see what’s in it”, we’ll just have to vote for him to see what he believes in?
I don’t think it’s exactly alike. There are certain things Trump has allowed to be written on his website which should act as his policies set in stone.
I see the following among them:
THE BORDER WALL
REPEALING OBAMACARE
TARIFFS ON CHINESE GOODS
ABOLISH NAFTA
TEAR UP THE IRAN DEAL
CUTTING TAXES (INDIVIDUAL AND CORPORATE )
Ah, now i see the new strategy for the pro-hillary trolls to avoid riding the lightening bolt: morph into Concern Trolls!
Your post is totally incoherent.
“As long as we have bumbling fools who cant articulate a viable defense for their position and dont want to make themselves a fixed target we will keep lurching leftward.”
That’s a/your theory. It is not fact. It controls nothing. You assume you have the correct situational diagnosis in exactly the same way that liberals assume they have a superior moral position, and I find it specious. It doesn’t matter to me that you cannot see the weakness of your argument. You can’t predict the future and neither can I.
From an interview with Greta Van Sustreen-”I will be changing very rapidly. I’m capable of changing to anything I want to change to”
7:29 PM - 10 Feb 2016
We should already be used to this changing of positions whenever it is advantageous. Let’s hope the U.S. voters are ok with it.
Just like this article Rush also tried to put WORDS into Trumps mouth today with words Trump never spoke of!
Looking into something is not the same as raising it to some outragous amount like $15 or even $12.5 like illary says she will do.
Desperado desperation!
He’s doubling down on the wall and on Muslim entry here (and by implication, sticking to his overall immigration policies of trying to keep us from becoming Third World)...I’ll let him have his Minimum Wage increase, if that’s the trade.
Pelosi and Obama are/were known quantities. They are leftist Democrats. What you see is what you get there. Trump is truly an unknown quantity.He has been liberal Democrat and Conservative Republican and everything in between. He is making the Deal. He is a negotiator. What you see may have nothing to do with what you get. At most only a part of what he has shown can be what you get. Getting it all would be entirely contradictory. He has had no visible Come To Jesus moment as Reagan did have re: abortion. His past pronouncements are as relevant as his recent ones i.e. not terribly relevant.
“Smart move by Trump, takes the issue off the table and makes Hillary a liar (she said Trump wants to reduce wages).”
This is a HUGE ISSUE right now and (unfortunately) the last thing that the country wants is someone that will do the right thing, which is to eliminate it.
So what should Trump do? Easy to say to freeze it...but like he points out, he may well be running against the Chief this fall, rather than Hillary, and he needs this issue OFF THE TABLE, just as you say.
The man is BRILLIANT.
All of these things are desirable but not the necessary actions. If the Agencies, being the EPA,DOE,DOE,FDA, etc. that is, all of them beyond the 4 that comprised Washington's first cabinet, are not abolished in toto then the most good that the new dictator- and that is what the President is now and will be whether he wants to be or not- will not change the plunging trajectory of the Republic. He can delay the final Totalitarianization by a small number of years but it will come.
Mrs Bill as president will ensure that we get that outcome before 2007.
“I suppose running to eliminate the minimum wage would be a winning strategy!! /s”
If one reads an economics book by Samulson, one would understand that the Minimum Wage is TOTALLY UNNEEDED and should be deleted.
OBVIOUSLY if you think that most voters read his books, you won’t get many votes - as Romney learned the hard way.
So Trump is not falling into that trap.
All of these things are desirable but not the necessary actions. If the Agencies, being the EPA,DOE,DOE,FDA, etc. that is, all of them beyond the 4 that comprised Washington's first cabinet, are not abolished in toto then the most good that the new dictator- and that is what the President is now and will be whether he wants to be or not- will not change the plunging trajectory of the Republic. He can delay the final Totalitarianization by a small number of years but it will come.
Mrs Bill as president will ensure that we get that outcome before 2017.
I agree it minimum wage should be eliminated. It’s not a winning idea though with the general public.
Do you really buy that, or are you just being sarcastic?
Of course I mean it.
Trump has neutrilized a weapon of the Left and he did it without giving up a thing. He committed to nothing while at the same time preventin libs from claiming he is hurting poor people by refusing to raise min wage.
It’s called politics and Trump is as good at it as anyone I have seen.
You have exactly stated my frustration with some Trump supporters. Some people are fantastic at convincing themselves that what someone said isn’t really what the person meant or explaining away why whatever was said, was said. It is so frustrating! Beside that it is dangerous.
PS It’s not just Trump supporters.
http://thehill.com/policy/finance/278778-trump-expresses-openness-to-raising-minimum-wage
You have to have something 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, much more money than the $15.
That means Trump wants to grow the economy to increase wages for Americans.
Yes, I did read the whole thing. I am not picking and chosing the portions that I like the best. I am looking at EVERYTHING he said. Guess you are one of those I was talking about picking and choosing the bits you think are best.
>What should be done and what is politically possible are two different things.
If ‘politically possible’ = ‘why bring it up to begin’; then even those ‘moralistic politicians’ are a big F* joke.
It’s one thing to say, “As Pres, I will fight for XYZ” or, “I believe in the Constitution...”, whereas, when one is in Congress, one *CAN* bring-up/debate/vote on bills...quite another to have the moral fortitude to DO so because they might have to find a REAL job.
Though, I agree on the bathrooms, we’ll have to agree to disagree on the ‘min wage’ (theft is theft, contracts, no compulsion to take the job, etc.)
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.