Happy Wednesday folks,
There has already been a lot of talk about the recent Congressional Budget Office report on the impact of a minimum wage increase- with discussions ranging from how many people will actually benefit from the increase, to how many will lose their jobs.
But what do the American people think?
Anticipating the salience of this issue, YG Network recently commissioned a poll to find out what Americans really think about the economic inequality debate. Some important findings include:
-
By a two to one majority, 64% to 33%, respondents say that expanding economic growth for everyone is more important than narrowing the gap between rich and poor.
-
While 3 in 4 respondents, 74%, support raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour, only one in three respondents, 36%, say that it would make their personal financial situation better.
-
Nearly 6 in 10 respondents, 59%, believe that creating economic growth and new private sector jobs by holding the line on taxes and reducing regulations on businesses is the best way to create new jobs and pay raises for working middle class families. Only one in three respondents, 32%, say raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour is better.
-
If the minimum wage is raised to $10 an hour, only 33% say that more jobs will be created. The plurality, 42%, says more low wage workers will lose their jobs.
-
Six in ten, 60%, of all respondents say that they prefer allowing states to determine their own minimum wages, because wages and the cost of living are different in each state. Only one in three, 34%, prefer the federal government setting one national minimum wage.
-
The majority of respondents, 55%, prefer the federal government focus on policies designed to grow the economy, like lowering energy costs, lowering taxes on small businesses, reducing regulations and cutting spending. Only 39% prefer the federal government focusing on policies that address income inequality, such as continuing to provide long-term unemployment benefits, increasing the minimum wage to $10 an hour and increasing taxes on the wealthy.
It’s clear that growing the economic pie for everyone is at the forefront of Americans’ priorities. The American people want pro-growth policies that help create jobs.
And according to a recent Quinnipiac poll, only 1 percent of Americans feel that “income inequality” should be the “top priority for President Obama and Congress in 2014,” while 16 percent believe the focus should be on “jobs/unemployment” and 15 percent believe the focus should be on the economy in general.
It’s not fair to hard-working Americans that President Obama and his liberal allies press ahead with their narrow-viewed agenda. Conservatives must continue to trumpet economic solutions that help grow the pie for everyone.
Seize the day.