Wisconsin Senator Opposes Minimum Wage Hike, Calls His $700,000 Salary 'Reasonable'

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said during a radio interview that the $700,000 per year payout he received from his own company was “pretty reasonable,” — despite opposing a federal minimum wage.

During an interview with "The Devil's Advocate" radio program on Wednesday, Johnson was asked about the $10 million payout he received from a plastics company he owned before becoming a Senator, The Huffington Post reported. The payout came after the Senator loaned himself $9 million for his campaign. An FEC complaint was subsequently filed against Johnson, alleging that the money was used as a campaign contribution.

“It was a successful company. Compare that to the CEOs and owners of other plastics companies in the same business,” Johnson said during the interview.

“Take a look at Plastics News, you'll see CEOs making millions of dollars, 6 million, 9 million," he added. "You know, $700,000 in the scheme of things -- and of course it's all relative -- is a pretty reasonable compensation level. So again, the people attacking me are completely off-base, they're totally wrong."

Johnson has been a vocal opponent to raising the minimum wage, saying that “good workers” generally don’t stay in low paying jobs for long. 

Sources: Huffington Post,Roll Call

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr, Huffington Post

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