Elections

Kasich: I Did Not Change My Stance On The Minimum Wage

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When asked why he backed off from his support of raising the minimum wage, Republican presidential hopeful John Kasich argued Sunday he was just merely clarifying his position.

“People were asking me about minimum wage and I said it’s very important that we don’t raise the minimum wage willy-nilly,” Kasich told Fox News host Chris Wallace. “And we end up throwing out of work the lowest and the most unskilled workers.”

As The Hill reported earlier in the month, Kasich said he’d support a reasonable minimum wage increase on the federal level. While claiming he has not changed his position, he now says its best states handle the issue.

“I also said that if you’re going to have a raising the minimum wage, it ought to be something that gets calculated between employers and labor,” he continued. “I fundamentally believe it ought to be done at the state level.”

Most recent minimum wage increases have been handled on the local level anyways. The current federal minimum wage has sat at $7.25 an hour since 2009. Many states, cities and counties have gone well above it. Some cities have even gone as high as $15.

Supporters argue increasing the minimum wage will help the poor by allowing them to afford basic necessities. This in turn could stimulate economic activity. Critics, however, say such an increase will actually hurt the poor by limiting job opportunities. The potential for either outcome usually depends on the study. Nevertheless, even the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) agrees any increase of the minimum wage will likely result in at least some job loss.

Support of the minimum wage is not the only issue Kasich has broke from party lines on. In June he defended his proposal to expand Medicaid by appealing to God. Republican Govs. Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley, though, have accused him of hiding behind Jesus to support positions unpopular with Republicans.

To get the Republican nomination, Kasich will first have to beat Donald Trump, Scott Walker, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Rand Paul among others in the Republican primary.

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