Mary Matalin: 'The New Normal Is Not A Good Economy'

During the December 8th episode of This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Republican strategist Mary Matalin countered arguments for a higher minimum wage by arguing that Obama’s economic policies are responsible for the very poverty it’s designed to fight.

This was in response to Professor Michael Eric Dyson’s claim that “income inequality” and day-to-day arrangements for “the working poor” present problems that demand immediate attention. Dyson said we cannot even measure the number of the jobs created under Obama or make broader economic plans until “we deal with people who are at the bottom.” 

Matalin quickly returned fire, emphasizing that the sudden, crisis-level focus on raising the minimum wage is an attempt to distract voters from the broader failure of Obama’s economic plans.

She pointed out that “this is the worst recovery in almost seven decades,” adding that the seven percent unemployment rate would actually be nine to eleven percent “if the labor force participation rate were calculated in” like “it was in the pre-recession.”

When asked about the Republican economic identity going into the future, Matalin said, “The biggest challenge of our time is not income inequality; it is job creation.” Moreover, she said Obama’s signature economic policies have squashed job creation. 

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins.