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Biden Botches Minimum Wage Stats (Updated)

(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Updated 3:33 p.m. | Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s trip to Los Angeles to talk up a minimum wage increase was marred by a misstatement about the impact of said wage hike.  

Biden appeared to confuse his talking points; the White House claims increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would give 28 million people a raise. Biden said it would lift 28 million people “out of poverty.” Big difference.  

“If we raise the minimum wage nationally to $10.10, that takes 28 million people out of poverty: 28 million people out of poverty,” Biden repeated.  

The Congressional Budget Office earlier this year predicted a $10.10 minimum wage would lift about 900,000 people out of poverty . The White House’s numbers are a bit more optimistic.  

Biden’s own Twitter account tweeted out the White House’s favored “more than 2 million” number Oct. 6:

Biden, who said people in Washington call him “middle-class Joe,” said workers’ wages aren’t keeping up with the economy, which is true.  

“In a macroeconomic sense, the economy is roaring,” Biden said, but workers are falling behind.  

Biden said raising the minimum wage would grow the economy because people would spend the money immediately. He likened it to the since-expired payroll tax cut.  

Biden recently had to apologize to several allies in the Middle East for remarks and his joke that being vice president is a “bitch” also made the rounds .  

   


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