U.S. Senate candidate Thom Tillis on Wednesday said he opposes President Barack Obama's plan to increase the federal minimum wage, calling it a "dangerous idea." The Republican went even further to suggest government shouldn't set a minimum wage, labeling it an "artificial threshold."
REPORTER: Getting back to the minimum wage issue, what do you consider a living wage? TILLIS: Um, I think for the most part the market needs to define that. I think when we create artificial thresholds then you run into a big problem. And I think we need to know that there is a segment of the population that relies on the minimum wage but there are a lot of jobs that go beyond the minimum wage, but for the most part, John, I think that we have to have the market more than anything drive what an employer is going to pay for a job. REPORTER: If the market should drive, should we get rid of the minimum wage? TILLIS: Um I'm sorry, say that again? REPORTER: If the market should drive the minimum wage, the decision about how much people should make, should we get rid of the current minimum wage? TILLIS: Yeah, I think you should consider anything that frees up the market, that creates more jobs. But the reality is that you can't un-ring that bell, and it could create as much, ah, you'd have to look at it, whether or not that creates destabilization in a market that is already destabilized. But at the end of the day the market drives the economy, or drives the pay for the vast majority of the positions that businesses hire for anyway.