You can also tweet us at our handle there or go to facebook atm cspan or send us email washington journal. Let me show you what you research has put together about the minimumts about wage. They say adjusted for inflation, the federal minimum wage peak in 1968 at 8. 54. Since it was last raised in 2009 to the current 7. 25 per hour, the federal minimum has lost about 8. 1 of its purchasing power to inflation. The 3 million hourly workers who were at or below the federal minimum wage in 2014 for ages 16 to 24. The district plus of columbia, nearly two dozen cities and counties have set their own higher minimums above that 7. 25. About 20. 6 Million People are of are near minimum wage. The fifth fact, the restaurant and Food Service Industry is the single biggest employer of near minimum wage workers. Take a listen to what donald trump had to say about the minimum wage and whether or not it should be increased at tuesday nights debate. Are toorump our taxes high, i have a tax plan that many people like for a much. A tremendous plan, i think it will make our country and economy very dynamic. Too high, wages are too high, we will not be able to compete against the world. I hate to say it, but we have to leave it the way it is. Out and worko go really hard and have to get into that upper stratum. We cannot do that if we are going to compete with the rest of the world. We just cant do it. I would not raise the minimum. Host donald trump at tuesday nights debate rejecting the idea of the increase. Mike in cary, North Carolina. What do you think . I come at this from a fiscal conservative point of view. I think the minimum wage should be left to states and local municipalities because its not the aggregate amount of the wage that really counts, its what the purchasing power is. It is a lot more expensive to live in new york or los angeles or washington, d. C. Than it is in many rural areas. A National Minimum wage makes no sense from an economic is this point of view. Alsoitutionally it is questionable. What right does the federal government have to mandate any employer to pay any wage to any employee . People that ashe you said in your data that work admin on wage jobs are fast food. Minimum wage jobs are fast food i work automation and computers and software. If you want to see the future of fast food workers, i dont want to say this to belittle them, they work hard but they are in a dead end job and need to retasked themselves. Or a chilisheetz and see the tablets. Workers like that will go the way of tellers. They need to retasked themselves, learn welding, machinist, plumbing, electronics, something. I wouldnt be wasting my time protesting for a higher wage, i would be retraining myself. Host minimum wage is 7. 25 at the federal level. Retools someone themselves, get an education when they are making that much . Thats good question, all i know is my experience and the people in my family and friends. I worked a minimum wage mostly through high school. I was a bus boy and worked in food service. I was a landscaper, i mowed lawns, painted houses, back in my day minimum wage was 2. 25. I worked my way out of that. When i moved to colorado, i continued to take lowwage jobs while i went to Community College and work my way into the university of colorado and gotten engineering and economics degree. I dont know how it will work for everybody else, you cannot have a blanket policy. It does boil down to what donald trump said. Be a bombastic you know what but it is based upon hard has in an industry that advancement for growth and where it will lead you to a future that you can support your family and at least try to obtain a middleclass life. We all know that minimum wage jobs like fast food or in a car wash or wherever whenever designed or intended to be career jobs that provided 401 k plans. They were pitstops and steppingstones on your way as you got your education, advance your skills. If not you how to show up, punch or timecard, and be it showed you how to show up, punch your timecard, and be a worker. Mike, as you are talking, we were showing our viewers the percentage of hourly workers at or below 7. 25. In North Carolina, thats 5 of the population. Ofs is the theater 2. 5 workforce 32. 5 affected. 1. 33 million workers in the state of North Carolina who would be affected. Catherine in new hampshire, high, youre on the air. What should the minimum wage be . Caller i have two short comments. One on minimum wage and one on outsourcing. Coming and good people will be handing out free turkeys to those in need. In addition to a once a year please call, email, text your u. S. Representative and ask that the minimum wage immediately be raised to 15 per hour. Then people in need could buy there on thanks giving turkeys and by stoves, gas, electricity to cook. My second comment is if u. S. Companies manufactured goods in Foreign Companies countries using cheap labor to increase their profits and bring these kids back to the u. S. To sell, with these companies be considered traitors . My dictionary states a traitor is somebody who betrays his or her country. Not a betrayal . Harmful causing the loss of american jobs and the middle class. Our Supreme Court ruled that companies are people, but companies cannot be jailed. If a u. S. Company outsources its manufacturing, betraying american citizens, that company should not get to sell its product in the United States. Host you are an independent in new hampshire, what was your reaction when you heard donald trump and the other candidates tuesday night say no to raising the wage . Caller i didnt listen to her applicants. Host what is your reaction . Caller i think it is absolutely wrong, terrible. Not everybody has the ability to upgrade skills. That does not mean that they cannot have a living wage and a decent life. Host hi, youre on the air. Good morning. Democrat line . Move on to arthur in fayetteville, North Carolina. Hi arthur. What are your thoughts . Caller id like to say thanks for allowing me to express my First Amendment freedom of because i am very silent when it comes to speaking on politics. Minimum wage should be set a bit toher depending on, i want say, not at six dollars or seven dollars, a little bit where it can reach over the poverty median. With living and housing, just for an individual to be accepted for them being able to live inside of an apartment. Having anas far as us income. It depends on how that company is established. If they dont have the capital to back them, the employees,. Host what do you do for a living . Caller im on Social Security, i got hurt. I was assaulted by two men in aberdeen, North Carolina. I had to deal with being on Social Security and disability at this time. Host is that a living wage . Caller it doesnt qualify for me to be accepted as far as any living, its not enough. Its only 780. I have to be below the poverty line. Trying to find a job and getting qualified for that, unless i have a partner, then its kind of a hardship. Host North Carolina there, we are talking about minimum wage. Heldight for 15 campaign protests across the country. Fast food, home care, protesting, asking that the federal government raise the minimum wage. Governments, local governments, raise it to 15 an hour. The new york governor, c uomo said he would raise it to 15 for state workers. Bernie sanders, the independent from for mont who is running for the democratic nomination was on capitol hill and join the protests. Heres what he had to say. Bernie sanders what you are doing and workers all over the United States are doing, you are having a profound impact. You are seeing in los angeles, and san francisco, people raising the minimum wage to 15 an hour. You know who did that . You know who started it . You did. You started that movement. You should be very proud. Of what you have accomplished, now we have to finish the job. 15 and a union. Host david and washington, d. C. , a democrat. What do you think . Caller i was calling mostly to mike what the color name ca ller named mike said. Working 2. 50 an hour minimum wage, that was a while ago. He said he was an economics major engineering major. But when he was getting two dollars 50 cents an hour, the dollar was worth a different amount. Changing the minimum wage with inflation, its like a nobrainer. Not doing it makes it a debating political point every few years when it gets undervalued. It obviously needs to be raised, it doesnt reflect debate buying power at all. Of what are making half you would need to be at the poverty line, my question for mike and all the other people like him is if you have to work two jobs just to make the same money that those guys were making back when minimum wage was 2. 50 an hour, where will you find time to do schooling and anything . A nine hour day at work, come home, go to classes, make yourself better, then move on with your life. Like he did. Thats all i have to say. Host let me show this graph. This is the federal minimum wage in 1938 22014. To 2014. The green bar is adjusted for inflation. If the minimum wage had been adjusted for inflation back in 1970, it would be about eight dollars an hour. You can see how it has gone down when adjusted for inflation over the years, leading to where it is now at 7. 25. Timothy n wilson, North Carolina. An independent. Caller good morning, thank you for taking my call. Im exploding wire it should be raised if you give me a little while. I will try to be brief i will explain why it should be raised. We have one fourth of the worlds money. This is the biggest market, the market were Companies Get really rich. I will give you an example. In new york, if you go to a store down the street, you will pay really high taxes because you are in a great market were you can make a lot of money. Just like if you get a yellow cab. Thats why you pay that higher wage. Pay arica, they should higher wage and higher taxes. , you can get rich easily off of it. We have all of these people coming from overseas, they come here and hardly pay any taxes. And the no taxes government has to subsidize these people, give them food stamps, subsidized housing. Up costing us but in a market this great, everybody should be able to pay a minimum wage. If they cant, it will be some of the else that will come in and take up that business and do it. Its ridiculous that the government democrats cannot make this argument to people and they come back and say we will lose jobs, no. When a market is great, somebody will pick up the slack. They will come in and pay people the wage they need to be paid. Host let me show you and others with dr. Ben carson had to say at the debate has he made that argument. You raise the minimum wage, you will lose jobs. Dr. Ben carson people need to be educated on the minimum wage. They time we raise it, number of jobless people increases. Particularly a problem in the black community. Of black percent teenagers have a job. Or are looking for one. Thats because of those high wages. If you lower those wages, that comes down. I can remember as a youngster, my first job working in a laboratory as a lab assistant. , i would notr jobs of gotten those of somebody had offered to pay me a lot of money but what i gained is a tremendous amount of experience and how to operate in the world and relate to different people and become a responsible individual. Thats what gave me what i needed to ascend the letter of opportunity. How do we allow people to ascend the ladder of opportunity . How do we give them everything and keep them independent . [applause] just to be clear, you would not raise it . It carson i would not raise specifically because i am interested in making sure people are able to enter the job market and take advantage of opportunities. Host would you raise the minimum wage . That was the first question to the republican candidates tuesday night in their debate. That is because on tuesday across the country, there were protesters calling for an immediate increase of 15 per hour. In the fight for 15 campaign. Massachusetts tweeted this out, raising the minimum wage would directly benefit 62 million American Workers across the country. I stand with the fight for 15. Kristin gillibrand from new york said nobody should be living in poverty working fulltime. Saying the need is overdue, but give working families respectable wages. Inlary clinton weighing saying fast food, home care, child care workers, your advocacy is changing our country for the better. The Huffington Post with the headline after that saying Hillary Clinton show support for the fight for 15 campaign. We turn to you this morning, what a your thoughts . What you think . What should the memo wage be . At mom i would take them wage, may be between eight dollars and leave it there minimum wage may be between eight dollars and nine dollars and leave it there. I worked so very hard to get where i am today. Without complaining. I lived within my means. If they raise it to 15 per hour, Small Businesses will close. They cant pay those wages. If you are working fulltime admin on wage at seven dollars 25, you are not going to get benefits, and there is a 15, you wont get benefits. It will will deeper in a deficit. Between eight dollars and nine dollars would be fair. 15 is absolutely not. There is amination, lot of companies out there that if you intern with them whether minimum wage or higher, once you complete college and work for them, they will pay off your tuition. Take student loans, work at night on the computer. There are courses online to better yourself. Host i want to make sure you hear this and others, political litifacts checked the claim by ben carson that every time the minimum wage was raised, jobs were lost. They called it false and said that we checked a similar claim made by ben carson in november 2014. We rated it mostly false after determining that during the 12 months following each of the 11 minimum wage increases since net gainf produced a in jobs and half produced a net loss. Sameuldnt rely on the data since carson referred to a growth and jobs while he preferred to an increase in joblessness. Those arent the same things as the bureau of labor statistics calculates both metrics. It seems about half the time there were losses and the other half jobs were gained. Hi beverly, a democrat, go ahead. Callingim really just about this guy named mike who said he worked with 2. 50 an hour. That was yesterday, this is today. In North Carolina, it is still 7. 25 an hour. So many years ago, compared to today, thats less than five dollars per hour increase from the 70s to 2015. We have to understand back in those days, milk was about . 50 a gallon. Child, you feed your , withlothing, etc. Minimum wages of 7. 25 . This guy also said, go to school. Does he know the cost of Education Today . Concerned,arson is he actually said you cant go anywhere with these high wages they are getting today. I dont know who hes talking about unless hes talking about the senators and congressmen. Nothing . A year to do for three days they come to work to do nothing. They have the nerve to talk a little guy who once an increase just to live. Americans can do better than this. Host diana in naples, florida, a democrat. Go ahead. Caller are you ready . Host were ready. Caller normally i would agree with the people that believe in this increase. Course, years of and years ago, i worked at the five and dime when i was 14. Trying to support, not support, but my father left my mother during the depression. But to get back to this, the first gentleman that called, i almost agree entirely. I believe we are now getting away from the jobs that were lost, benefits that were lost, all of those people, they are not counted in the poll anymore. These are the jobs we need and im getting sick of saying it. That will not be for us anymore in National World trade. I bought a refrigerator i was forced to buy because my other one broke. With this new appliance that i finally found out was assembled here but not made here. Another thing i bought, the same thing happened. You buy a war, they dont back it up. You buy a warranty, they dont back it up. Robotics carried all the appliances way back. Im talking about jobs. This is all these people, unemployed. This would help in almost every way and i wish, i want to sidestep to another thing but what is happening to medicare now that im going through this. Host i will leave it there and show you what the wall street journal columnist daniel 10 injured henninger had to say. He writes mr. Trumps bluecollar base is entering its eighth year of Barack Obamas economy. Saying wages are too high, if it doesnt sink am then he isnt going to fade from the primaries. He says the crack just get Hillary Clintons campaign its mitt romney moment. They would plaster the billionaires wages are too high across every tv market in the midwests battleground states. He is writing that this will not be over, no candidates will get out until cleveland. See you in cleveland, he says. Capturing the majority in cleveland see whyhard for me to are around of brokering in cleveland isnt the most likely outcome. The will see how that shakes out over the coming months. Let me show you the front pages of the papers. All dissecting tuesday nights republican debate. The New York Times this morning, gop fight is now a battle over what defines a conservative. From immigration and back Regulation Bank regulation, the issues that began tuesday night continued wednesday. It exposed a contentious dispute over what it means to be a conservative and offered a preview of the contours of battle for republicans and their nomination. The wall street journal says populism rises in the gop race. Candidates vying for the nomination have grown distinctly more leery of International Trade deals, banks, and hostile toward the federal reserve. Post,shington they say figures on Foreign Policy, the candidates are all over the map when it comes to Foreign Policy. Should the government inte