Linda McMahon's remark at a press conference that "we ought to review how much" minimum wage "ought to be" has, naturally made waves.
McMahon's statement in full: "The minimum wage now in our country, I think we've set that, so there are a lot of people have benefited from it in our country, but I think we ought to review how much it ought to be, and whether or not we ought to have increases in the minimum wage."
The suggestion that McMahon might be objecting to the recent .60 wage increase (bolsterd for some by the fact she's already accepted endorsements from groups who are on record as opposing raising minimum wage) promptly infuriated people, coming from a multimillionaire. Especially after, according to CTNewsJunkie, "McMahon admitted she didn't know what the current minimum wage is or if any of her employees at World Wrestling Entertainment are paid it." Her opponent Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's camp quickly jumped on the remark, issuing the statement, "Linda McMahon laid off ten percent of her workers and takes home $46 million a year so it's no surprise she's thinking about lowering the minimum wage."
McMahon's camp, for its part, denies that she ever suggested anything of the kind. Says a spokesman,
I think a good deal of creative interpretation is needed for anybody to take away from these quotes that she is in favor of reducing the minimum wage. She is clearly saying that we ought to review whether this is in fact the time to raise the rate. It's impossible to accept the spin that a handful of reporters are putting on this without changing the definition of the word 'review.' That word is not one and the same with 'cut'. Noah Webster, I'm certain, is turning over in his grave today.
It's not the first time her spokesman has distanced the team from McMahon's vague statements: just a week ago, he was disputing rumors that his boss planned to dismantle the Department of Education. Although considering Webster's radical political leanings, it's an open question just what would have the Connecticut native rolling.
Linda McMahon: 'We Ought To Review' The Minimum Wage [Huffington Post]
McMahon Accepts Endorsement Of Group Opposed To Increasing Minimum Wage [CTNews Junkie]
DISCUSSION
Considering that the minimum wage is not indexed to inflation and that minimum wage workers, in real dollars, make less now than they did in 1968, the only discussion about the minimum wage should be how much it should be raised.
In other words, McMahon (and those who also think the minimum wage should be frozen or, god forbid, reduced) can suck it.