The leading candidates for the GOP presidential nomination, arguing that they are best positioned to boost the nation's economy, said Tuesday night that the problem is that entry-level wages are too high.
Real estate tycoon Donald Trump and neurosurgeon Ben Carson used an opening question on the minimum wage to argue that high wages are a drag on job creation.
"Taxes too high.
Wages too high.
We're not going to be able to compete against the world.
I hate to say it, but we have to leave it the way it is," Trump said.
That set the tone for a business-centric debate - sponsored by Fox Business Network and The Wall Street Journal - that allowed the top eight Republican candidates to tout their free-market credentials, rail against regulations and trumpet their tax plans.