Duckworth, Kaifesh differ on raising minimum wage

Democratic U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth and her 8th District Republican challenger Larry Kaifesh disagree over many aspects of the business environment in the U.S., not the least of which is whether the national minimum wage needs to be raised.

Duckworth is calling for an increase in all states to $10.10 per hour. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25, and Illinois' is $8.25.

But Kaifesh believes the economy will thrive and wages rise naturally if government reduces — not expands — its regulations.

Duckworth said families will do better nationwide — and particularly those in Illinois — if the minimum wage is not only raised, but the gap between states closed.

Ensuring Illinois' is no higher than others will improve the state's competitiveness, Duckworth said.

The current minimum wage anywhere doesn't cut it, she said, considering that the majority of people holding such jobs today aren't teenagers still living at home.

“I don't think anyone who has a full-time job in America should be in poverty,” Duckworth said.

She said a person working at minimum wage today earns just $14,500 a year — or nearly $4,000 below the poverty line for a mother with two children.

Increasing the federal minimum to $10.10 per hour would raise the pay of more than 25 million people, she said. She quoted a study by the Economic Policy Institute last December which concluded that such an increase would generate an additional $22 billion in economic activity and create 85,000 additional jobs.

When people are making a living wage they start spending money on things other than bare survival, like movies or treats for their kids, Duckworth said. And these generate other jobs, she said.

Kaifesh said the goal of minimum wage jobs was never to support families, just as it shouldn't be the goal of families to survive on minimum wage jobs.

“You will never find someone more committed to the working class,” Kaifesh said. “I want them making more money because the economy is thriving.”

He cited North Dakota as an example of a state where the pay for service jobs is relatively high without the government setting a minimum wage.

Kaifesh added that his attitude toward labor unions is probably the position that's changed the most since he first started campaigning a year ago. Though never anti-union, he until recently believed unions did more harm than good.

“I see now that there's a more legitimate place for unions,” Kaifesh said. “They need to be given the proper attention.”

Unions can be one of the means by which workers' voices are heard without the need for the government raising the minimum wage and increasing its involvement in the free market, he said.

“I want everybody to do well,” he said. “I want everybody to live the American dream and have the ability to pursue happiness. But you can't pursue happiness if you're dependent on the government, unemployed or living on minimum wage. So we've got to change all those things.”

The 8th District is roughly centered in Schaumburg and includes parts of Northwest Cook, central DuPage and eastern Kane counties.