President Barack Obama's call for a federal minimum wage hike is part of a plan to make people forget about the nightmarish issues surrounding the Affordable Care Act, former Arizona congressman J.D. Hayworth says.
"It takes away the specter, the onus, the problem of Obamacare," Hayworth, now co-host of Newsmax TV's "America's Forum," told Steve Malzberg.
"Raising the minimum wage always got a majority of respondents in any poll.... [You] have this notion that somehow, well, gee, all things being equal, pay people more money."
But Hayworth, the co-host of Newsmax TV's "America's Forum," says that "generous impulse" ignores the reality of business.
"[With] a major corporation like Walmart, no problem. Wally's Body Shop down the street with only a few workers and maybe a young [guy] … taking automotive class … that position goes away if there's a radical increase in the minimum wage," he said.
Peter Morici, an economist and professor at the University of Maryland, said he is comfortable with a small wage increase, but no more.
"I don't mind [Obama] raising it with inflation, but going beyond that is too much.... For people that make very low salaries, making them work more than 40 hours a week essentially pushes them under minimum wage," Morici said.
"I view the minimum wage as a fact of life, however, because society seems to broadly support it."
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