From CBS News:
The influential conservative group Club for Growth PAC criticized Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s position on the minimum wage, calling it “disappointing.”
“Indexing the minimum wage would be an absolute job killer,” Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said. “Mitt Romney’s proposal is anti-growth and would harm our economy. It’s disappointing to hear that the leading candidate for the Republican nomination believes that the government can set the price of labor better than the free market.”
Club for Growth’s critique was made after a reporter asked Romney aboard his campaign plane Wednesday if he still believed the minimum wage should be indexed to account for inflation, essentially increasing the minimum wage each year to keep up with the cost of living.
Romney failed to expound on his position, but said he has “the same thoughts as in the past.” Since he was governor of Massachusetts, Romney has said he supports automatic hikes in the minimum wage.
This is a much bigger gaffe than yesterday's nothing. He's going to need to walk this back, and pronto, or he'll be hurt.
This reinforces all of the attacks on him from the right - exactly what he doesn't need.
Brokered convention here we come?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSee? Your "conservative businessman" cares about the poor after all!
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Moderate to Liberal" is in Romney's DNA. Let us hope CenterRightMargin's prediction/quest for "Brokered convention here we come?" comes true. Day after day--conservatives are poked in the eye with a sharp stick from Romney and the establishment Republicans, and yet Romney and his establishment Republican backers still wonder why conservatives don't agree that we must settle for Romney because "he is electable."
Romney shows his core beliefs all too often. They are liberal to moderate. No amount of lipstick will make this pig more attractive. Yep--brokered convention with a Rubio or Ryan emerging is about the only thing that will salvage this mess.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseQuick, someone get Ponnuru and Levin to write a 3000 word piece on how this is really a conservative position.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuseand Rick . . . and Mona . . .
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe saddest thing is that I have no doubt that it's coming.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe real debate is whether there should be a minimum wage. If there is one, it ought to be indexed. Regardless, this is not the issue that holds the key for getting this country back on sound financial footing. And taking a hard position on the minimum wage would be political suicide for Republicans this Fall.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseCorrect on the first and third points.
This is why the election is meaningless - we're stuck with voting between the red-shade and blue-shade of the same line of clothing.
"Free Association"? Who needs that anyway, really?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWrong on both counts.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMy wage isn't indexed to inflation,it's indexed to how well my company is doing. It's been 5 years since I've had a raise that matched the inflation rate.
Secondly, millions of people are kept from getting jobs because of the minimum wage. If you think that isn't hurting the economy, you need to think again.
I can't wait to see Old Fan and Mr Wilson explain how this justifies their claims that Mitt is a solid conservative. I'm sure they will all jump in and insist this proves that Mitt does care for the poor, in order to avoid this increasingly clear fact: he is a terrible messenger of conservatism.
He was unable to articulate the conservative value proposition to the poor. And today we see that he is unable to make the conservative case against the minimum wage- a horrible example of price fixing that costs low skilled, low income workers' jobs.
Once again we see that a man's private record is little indicator of how good a public servant he will be. As if Mitt's governing record weren't enough.
We are thoroughly screwed.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOld Fan will be along shortly to correct your heresy... err, criticism.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOf course he does....
Does The National Review?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThis is why I wouldn't be devastated if Mitt Romney won the presidential race. He was also very liberal during his first few years as MA governor, enacting a progressive tax policy, until the Club for Growth began to castigate him.
If he becomes president, I wouldn't be shocked if his fiscal policy was as progressive if not moreso than President Obama's. His instincts are in the right place.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThanks, but let's leave the failed leftism to the Democrats and let them further tarnish only their own name along the way.
If you don't hate our nominee, we haven't done our job right.
I have no interest in either compromising with you or making you happy in any way about any given thing.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseQuick Katrina, you, Lowry,Costa, Ramesh etc...need to write a a pro minimum wage editorial, come on carry the water, he's your candidate. Explain why we're all wrong and this really is a conservative pro business position. Between Coulters pro RomneyCare piece yesterday and this the wheels are coming off the republican party.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAnd to think I used to consider Coulter a conservative fire-brand (and something we desparately needed) - that piece of garbage she wrote was awful, I'm throwing out her books tonight. . . . oh where oh where is Rubio . . .
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse10-4 good buddy, thats what you get when you support RINOs like Mitt.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRomney turns out to be conservative on most social issues and foreign policy. But on economics he's all over the map--and on this issue dead wrong.
Still a decent bloke.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseDecent bloke, sure.
He's still a miserable candidate for the office, with views like that. What part of "the right of free association" does he not understand?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBy most accounts, BTK was a decent bloke, too.
Romney needs to go away. The "conservatives" that enable his nonsense need to follow him. The coming third party should be comprised of worthless squishes fleeing a newly conservative GOP, not the other way around.
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