Fox host: It is important to pay some people less than $30,000 a year
Stuart Varney: Democrats are “buying votes” by advocating for $15 minimum wage
Published
Citation From the August 6 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends
AINSLEY EARHARDT (CO-HOST): 2020 Democrats still pushing that fight for 15 to raise the minimum wage, but more than six months after it went into effect here in New York City, business owners say increased labor costs are forcing them to cut the staff, eliminate work shifts, and raise prices.
STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): One restaurant in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, the owner there telling The Wall Street Journal, "what it really forces you to do is make sure that nobody works more than 40 hours. You can only cut back so many people before the service starts to suffer," which is something I think we predicted.
BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): Stuart Varney's here from Varney & Company, starts from 9 to noon on FBN. Stuart, this does not surprise you.
STUART VARNEY (FOX BUSINESS HOST): No.
KILMEADE: But now they have numbers to go on.
VARNEY: Yeah, I mean, there's no surprise here whatsoever. We saw this coming and it has happened. I'm going to lay down a couple of rules here. First of all, do not legislate wages. The law of unintended consequences kicks in real fast. Second, it's terrible for youngsters. How do you climb up the ladder if you can't get on the bottom rung? And thirdly, not all jobs should pay $30,000 a year right from the get-go. What about entry-level jobs? You can't entry at $30,000 a year. We will never know the names of the youngsters who failed to get on that lower rung of the ladder because there's no jobs available for them at that right price.
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VARNEY: Don't let politicians set wage levels, [because] basically, they're buying votes. They're saying, you vote for me, and look what you get. You will get a raise. You'll get $15 an hour.