Republican Mehmet Oz says the United States ought to boost wages well above the federal minimum wage by unleashing energy jobs for America’s working and middle class.
During Tuesday evening’s Pennsylvania Senate debate, Oz said Democrat John Fetterman “shoots too low” when it comes to wages and said he wants a fierce economic agenda that will boost wages for working and middle class Americans to historic levels — well beyond the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and higher than the Democrats’ proposed $15 an hour.
“I think market forces have already driven up the minimum wage. I was with a hotel worker, actually here in Harrisburg, a few months ago and he was telling me how hard it was to live on the $15 an hour that he was getting paid,” Oz said:
John Fetterman shoots too low, we want much more money than that. And there are many ways to achieve that but John Fetterman thinks the minimum wage is his weekly allowance from his parents. He’s not really cognizant of the real challenges of business owners who’ve got to balance that with employees. [Emphasis added]
Here’s what I would do. We have one of the richest energy states in the county. I believe that we can unleash the energy underneath our feet in Pennsylvania — we’d have plenty of money to go around. We’d have increased wages, more reasons for students to take vocational classes to learn trades … we’d also be able to pipe that gas, improve our economy, and reduce inflation. [Emphasis added]
Oz said the goal of lawmakers should not be bottoming out wages for Americans with federal minimum wage hikes, but instead opening Pennsylvania’s energy sector to increase the number of jobs across the state and boost wages in the industry.
“I don’t think you should have to survive on $7.25 an hour. I want the minimum wage as high as it can go … I want us all getting paid a lot more than $15,” Oz said.
“I answered your question directly: that would serve business owners [and] job creators, so they’d thrive and we’d have lots more employees entering the workforce and then prospering, getting paid $25, $35, $45 an hour,” he continued. “But we’re never going to get there if we don’t unleash our energy.”
Former President Trump had a similar agenda when it came to wages. During the four years that Trump was in office, he sought to tighten the U.S. labor market by reducing overall immigration levels, a proposal overwhelmingly supported by Republicans and swing voters, that ultimately cut down on the number of foreign workers that Americans are forced to compete against for jobs.
As a result, wages grew tremendously in blue-collar industries like dairy farming, construction, and small business workers, among other sectors. The tightened labor market also helped secure higher-paying jobs for American retirees and teens.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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