Boehner balks at Obama's push to hike minimum wage

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), the former chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, took issue Wednesday with President Obama's call for a higher minimum wage. 

Saying that he has dealt with the "minimum wage issue for the last 28 years," Boehner said that a higher minimum wage results in fewer jobs. 

"When you raise the price of employment, guess what happens? You get less of it. At a time when the American people are still asking the question, 'Where are the jobs' — why would we want to make it harder for small employers to hire people?" Boehner said.

He added that Republicans wanted to "get people on" the economic ladder, not "take away the first couple rungs" of it. 

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Obama said the minimum wage should be raised from $7.25 per hour to $9. 

Boehner was also asked if the House was compelled to consider gun safety legislation following Obama's passionate call for a vote on such measures. He said that the Senate must act first. 

"I think the committees of the Congress are beginning to look at how we address violence in our society — how do we take meaningful steps to reduce that violence? And as I made clear for weeks, if the Senate acts, we'll be happy to take a look at what they do," Boehner said. 

---