Joe Miller: There Should Be No Federal Minimum Wage
Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller says he doesn't believe there should be a federally mandated minimum wage.
Miller made the comments during an interview with Politico and ABC News. A self-described "constitutional conservative," Miller is the Republican nominee in Alaska's three-way race for Senator.
He said in the interview that minimum wage standards were "clearly up to the states" and that regulation of those rates was "not within the scope of the powers that are given to the federal government."
"The state of Alaska has a minimum wage which is higher than the federal level because our state leaders have made that determination," Miller said. "The minimum level again should be the state's decision."
Miller, who won Alaska's Republican Senate nomination in an upset over incumbent Lisa Murkowski in August, is vocal in his belief that the federal government should be severely limited in its power.
"What I'd recommend that you do is go to the Constitution and look at the enumerated powers because what we have is something that we call the 10th Amendment that says, look if it's not there if it's not enumerated, then it's delegated to the states," Miller said. "Everything that's not there is reserved to the states and the people."
Miller also defended his position on federal unemployment insurance, which he believes is not authorized by the Constitution. He argued that, for the most part, federal regulations barring interstate commerce should fall under statewide jurisdiction.
"It still makes far more sense to have those kinds of decisions made at the level closest to the people, where there is more accountability, less inefficiency, where there is more understanding of where the people ought to be and what the state role of government is," Miller said. "If you like big government, move to Massachusetts."
A recent CNN/Time poll showed Miller in the lead of the three-way race with 38 percent of prospective voters, followed by Murkowski with 36 percent and Democrat Scott McAdams with 22 percent.
