JEFFERSON CITY 鈥 Incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill strongly backs a minimum-wage hike that is appearing on the November ballot.
Democrats hope the issue puts her Republican challenger, Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, on the defensive in a state where more than three-fourths of voters supported a wage hike in 2006.
The two candidates have jabbed each other for months, trying to cast the other as out of touch and elite. Republicans have rapped McCaskill鈥檚 private plane use and her husband鈥檚 wealth 鈥 some of it tied to the Cayman Islands, other earnings tied to controversial tax breaks for conservation easements. Roll Call lists McCaskill as member of Congress.
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McCaskill, meanwhile, has made fun of Hawley鈥檚 鈥溾 Yale law degree. She often notes she waited tables as a student at Mizzou. And she landed on the right side of public opinion when it came to the 鈥渞ight to work鈥 vote in August. Now, if history is a guide, she is poised to land in agreement with the majority of voters on the minimum wage in November.
GOP jumps on news, says Obama unpopular in Missouri聽
鈥淲e have an opportunity in November to raise the minimum wage in Missouri, and I am 100 percent in favor of that,鈥 McCaskill told a crowd at Lona鈥檚 Lil Eats in south St. 亚洲无码 on Thursday. 鈥(Hawley) is not fighting for the workers. He is fighting for the folks in the boardroom.鈥
Hawley says he has not decided whether he will vote to raise the minimum wage in November.
鈥淚 think a minimum-wage increase is probably a good idea,鈥 Hawley said to reporters Thursday when told of McCaskill鈥檚 attack. 鈥淚鈥檓 not so sure that the one that鈥檚 on the ballot this fall is a good idea. I鈥檓 worried that it may result in actually lost jobs. I haven鈥檛 made up my mind on it.鈥
He went on to blast McCaskill鈥檚 support for policies that 鈥渟ent jobs overseas, kept wages flat鈥 and 鈥渞aised health care costs.鈥
Hawley is expected to release an economic plan within the next several weeks, his campaign said Thursday. He also said Thursday that 鈥渨orkers deserve a raise in this country, probably not just workers at the minimum, but every worker in the country 鈥 particularly those beneath the median wage. We need to pursue policies in Washington, D.C.,鈥 that result in higher wages.
Shortly after taking office in January 2017, Hawley filed an amicus brief in federal court as part of an effort to that would have expanded overtime pay eligibility to millions of workers.
His campaign confirms.
鈥淭his office has joined the fight against rules issued by President Obama that would require Missouri businesses to adopt new overtime and minimum-wage standards,鈥 Hawley said then. 鈥淭hese rules would cost Missouri jobs, they would be incredibly expensive for small business, and they would probably end up driving down wages for Missouri workers.鈥
Hawley, now 38, penned a column in 1995 for his hometown newspaper in Lexington, Mo., in which he criticized the minimum wage.
On Feb. 2 that year, he wrote a column in the Lexington News opposing an attempt by congressional Democrats to raise the minimum wage. Hawley was 15 years old.
鈥(T)he minimum wage is another example of the government鈥檚 attempt to influence the economy,鈥 Hawley wrote. 鈥淟ike other relics of Roosevelt鈥檚 鈥楴ew Deal,鈥 the minimum wage is based upon a simple concept: People don鈥檛 know best; government knows best.
In addition to keeping McCaskill in power, the party wants to elbow its way back to relevance in the state Legislature and secure a four-year term for Auditor Nicole Galloway.
He continued: 鈥淥f course, a minimum-wage increase looks good on the surface 鈥 after all, why shouldn鈥檛 we raise working people鈥檚 wages?鈥 Hawley asked. 鈥淭he problem with the minimum wage is the straightjacket it places upon the free market. And in the end, it invariably ends up hurting the people it was made to help.
鈥淐ompanies that have large payrolls will be forced to critically review their operations, and inevitably, they will cut back. The reason is a fundamental rule of business: You do not increase your costs without increasing productivity, and that is exactly what the minimum-wage does.鈥
Hawley goes on to say teenagers would have trouble entering the workforce, and said 鈥渂eneath the surface of a seemingly charitable proposal lurk dark consequences, especially for the younger generation.
鈥淪uch measures as price and wage controls are merely attempts to stifle the power of the people in a free market, and in a free society,鈥 a young Hawley wrote.
Mark Schlinkmann of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.