14 GOP Congressional Candidates Would Eliminate Minimum Wage

During his State of the Union address last month, President Obama called on Congress to raise the Federal Minimum Wage to $9 an hour.

The federal rate is $7.25, but some states have raised it on their own.

However, if all but one of the Republican candidates for the First Congressional District seat had their way, the minimum wage would not only not be raised.

It would be eliminated completely.

Reasons offered for elimination included allowing market forces to control wages and the lack of interest by employers in workers who would settle for a minimum wage.

All but one of the 15 candidates in attendance at a Thursday event at The Citadel said they would vote to eliminate the mandated pay. The only one who didn't was Teddy Turner. When Patch asked him to clarify his opposition he said:

"It's not that I don't want to abolish the minimum wage -- I'm opposed to all forms of government interference in our markets. Instead, it's that I know abolishing the minimum wage is a political non-reality. This kind of rhetoric is just more puffery from career politicians who don't mind wasting voters' time, and don't mind lying to the public about their records or what they plan to do if elected. But I absolutely do oppose raising the minimum wage. Doing so in this economic environment would crush small businesses, and a lot of them are already going to have a hard time surviving the effects of Obamacare. Raising the minimum wage right now will result in a lot of people losing their jobs. We should not let the president do anything more to prevent our economic recovery. Raising the minimum wage would do just that."

The discussion of wages, in light of the dispute that took place between Boeing and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), has the potential to mushroom into a defining issue in the race.

At an event last month, Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the likely Democratic nominee in the race, told a group of supporters, “Everyone is entitled to a fair wage. I do know if you are working and getting paid below the poverty level, there is something wrong with that."

In the Lowcountry, which makes up a sizable portion of SC1, Food Services and Retail Trade were the two largest employment sectors according to the Department of Employment and Workforce. Through the second quarter of 2012, nearly 27,000 people worked in those jobs, which tend to earn at or near minimum wages.

Of the jobs that are open in the Lowcountry where a minimum education level is specified, nearly 64 percent require a high school diploma or less. Such a distinction often means the pay is at or near minimum wage.

Amanda Loveday, Executive Director of South Carolina Democratic Party, issued this statement when told of the GOP candidates' stance:

"It's obvious with the extreme views of all the Republicans running in the 1st Congressional District that the citizens need a better leader to send to Congress. To not believe in a minimum wage is extremely radical and unfortunate for those in the district. People in the first district who are working full-time on minimum wage bring home $14,500 a year. For the Republicans to say not only should that not be higher but it shouldn't exist at all, is preposterous  and I hope the voters see through their pandering."

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