Joni Ernst, the Republican nominee for Senate in Iowa,
doesn't think there should be a federal minimum wage. None.
"The minimum wage is a safety net. For the federal government to set the minimum wage for all 50 states is ridiculous," Ernst said Monday.
"The standard of living in Iowa is different than it is in New York or California or Texas. One size does not fit all," she said.
Actually, though, as Steve Benen points out, the federal government
doesn't actually set the minimum wage for all 50 states. It just sets the minimum wage for the states that don't choose to do better by their residents, saying "businesses may pay workers the poverty wage of $7.25 an hour, but no lower." New York's minimum wage, for instance, is currently $8. California's is $9. Texas', like Iowa's, is at the federal level of $7.25.
So one size isn't fitting all. The federal government has set the floor, and some states choose to raise their minimum wages a little above rock bottom. But just as importantly, $7.25 an hour doesn't fit anyone's life. In Iowa, for instance, you'd need to work 73 hours a week at minimum wage to afford rent. That's no kind of standard of living—but to Joni Ernst, it's apparently too high.