At the annual Defending the American Dream Summit in Dallas, Texas, TPNN’s Scottie Nell Hughes caught up with one of the nation’s top economists, Stephen Moore, who serves as the Heritage Foundation’s Chief Economist.
The champion of free-market economics was quick to note that the average American is still struggling, despite the rosy picture painted by the Obama Administration.
“Just look at the polling. I mean, half of Americans think that we’re still in a recession five years into what was supposed to be a recovery. So this is a ‘recovery’ that has benefited some people in the top ten percent of income, but for the middle class, it just hasn’t arrived yet. The average middle class family has lost $1,500 in income in this period.”
Hughes pivoted to the continued calls for increased minimum wages in America- a notion that conservatives feel would place an unbearable burden on small businesses while driving up the costs of goods.
Moore scoffed at the cries for increased minimum wage, noting that “only 4 or 5% of Americans even earn the minimum wage. Why are we even talking about this? We’re supposed to be talking about helping the middle class; those are people who earn two-or-three-times what the minimum wage is, but their incomes have flatlined.Who earns the minimum wage? Young people do, people who don’t have a lot of skills do. I mean, my first job was minimum wage! Why do we want to destroy those starter jobs? A lot of them are restaurant industry jobs- that’s not the problem. The problem is that this economy is not producing enough good-paying jobs that give you a middle class income.”
When the conversation turned to the effects of illegal immigration on the U.S. economy, Moore was quick to note that legal immigrants help the economy, but that securing the border is an absolute must for the American worker.
Click below for the whole interview:
www.tpnn.com/2014/08/30/exclusive-top-conservative-economist-obama-has-failed-the-middle-class/
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