Marco Rubio on Jobs

Raising minimum wage would replace people with machines

DONALD TRUMP: [If our] wages are too high, we're not going to be able to compete against the world.

CARSON: Every time we raise the minimum wage, the number of jobless people increases.

MARCO RUBIO: If I thought that raising the minimum wage was the best way to help people increase their pay, I would be all for it, but it isn't. In the 20th century, it's a disaster. If you raise the minimum wage, you're going to make people more expensive than a machine. And that means all this automation that's replacing jobs and people right now is only going to be accelerated. Here's the best way to raise wages: Make America the best place in the world to start a business or expand an existing business.

Give wage subsidies rather than raise minimum wage

Voted against Paycheck Fairness Act (equal pay for women)

• Prohibits any employer from discharging or discriminating against any employee who has inquired about or discussed his or her wages or the wages of another employee.
• Prohibits an employer from paying a wage rate to employees of a particular sex that is lower than the rate paid to employees of the opposite sex for equal work unless such payment is made due to a bona fide factor other than sex.
• Requires an employer who violates the provisions of this bill to be held liable for compensatory damages or punitive damages, if the employee can demonstrate that the employer acted with "malice" or "reckless indifference."
• Appropriates $15 million to implement the provisions of this bill.

Ok to extend unemployment if it's paid for

RUBIO: There is a general consensus that these programs need to be extended, but they need to be paid for. And in addition to that, maybe not as part of this effort right away, but in the long term we need to figure out way to reform those programs so that we get more people back to work.

Grow the middle class; don't grow the government

Hard-working middle class Americans who don't need us to come up with a plan to grow the government. They want a plan to grow the middle class. Economic growth is the best way to help the middle class. Unfortunately, our economy actually shrank during the last three months of 2012.

But if we can get the economy to grow at just 4% a year, it would create millions of middle class jobs. And it could reduce our deficits by almost $4 trillion dollars over the next decade.

Tax increases can't do this. Raising taxes won't create private sector jobs. And there's no realistic tax increase that could lower our deficits by almost $4 trillion. That's why I hope the President will abandon his obsession with raising taxes and instead work with us to achieve real growth in our economy.

1984: Enthusiastic union activist during dad's strike

I never grasped all the issues involved, but understood generally that the strikers were just asking to be treated fairly. They had worked hard to help make the hotels profitable, and were entitled to better compensation and benefits. I was excited to be part of the cause & join forces with striking workers from many hotels. At the height of the strike, it seemed all the kid at my school had a parent on the picket line. I became a committed union activist. I got to spend time with my father. I thought it was nothing but fun.

My father was older than most of the strikers. Eventually, our small savings were gone & the union checks stopped coming. Not long after, he informed me he was going back to work. I accused him of selling out and called him a scab. It hurt him, and I'm ashamed of it. He had had no choice. He returned to work for a smaller salary and fewer benefits.

Oppose card check & Employee Free Choice Act