In an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday, Representative Michele Bachmann stated that she wished to remove minimum wage in order to eliminate unemployment. As a part of ABC News’ Fact Check efforts during the 2012 Presidential Election cycle, ABC’s Amy Bingham cited PRRI to demonstrate the public’s position on the minimum wage:
Just over two thirds of Americans polled favored or strongly favored increasing the minimum wage to $10 per hour in a poll conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute in September 2010.
These numbers came from our widely publicized 2010 American Values Survey concerning American attitudes on religion, values, and politics. The survey found that while more than two-thirds (67%) of the American public support increasing the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.00 an hour. More than one-third (35%) is strongly in favor.
Support remains strong across partisan divides, with the notable exception of those who identify with the Tea Party movement. Strong majorities of Democrats (82%) and independents (64%) are in favor of increasing the minimum wage. Republicans are less supportive, although a slim majority (51%) support an increase. Americans who identify with the Tea Party movement are most opposed and are split over the issue (47% in favor and 50% opposed).
A proposal to increase the minimum wage has solid support across every religious group.
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