Denny Rehberg Mum When Asked To State Minimum Wage Rate (VIDEO)

Democrats circulated a video on Tuesday of Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.), who is challenging Democratic Senator Jon Tester in 2012 for his seat, appearing tight-lipped when asked to name the minimum wage in his state.

In the clip, the congressman is pressed repeatedly to identify the rate. In Montana, the minimum wage was recently raised to $7.35 per hour, which is 10 cents higher than the national rate.

A spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said the video suggested Rehberg is "out of touch."

"Congressman Rehberg is more out of touch than we ever could have imagined," DSCC Director Eric Schultz said in a statement. "This is not the first time Congressman Rehberg has shown a disdain for the working men and women of his state. Time and again he has voted against giving Montanans a livable wage. But today he has sunk to a new low."

It didn't take long for Rehberg's team to hit back. The congressman's camp pointed to the fact that the Republican lawmaker voted in favor of raising the minimum wage in 2007 as part of a measure that provided additional funding for the Iraq war.

"It's certainly troubling that the Montana Democrat Party and Jon Tester's campaign have hired someone who apparently doesn't know what the minimum wage is in Montana," Jed Link, a spokesman for Rehberg, wrote in an email, presumably referring to the man who asked the congressman about the issue. "That said, being ignorant of the law doesn't mean you aren't still entitled to its protections. If this young man isn't being paid in accordance with the law by the Montana Democrat Party or Jon Tester's campaign, Congressman Rehberg's office will help him in any way it can."

According to the Clark Fork Chronicle, Rehberg is the 14th wealthiest member of Congress. He's also cast votes on multiple occasions against Democratic-backed measures aimed at raising the minimum wage.

When asked to state the rate in the clip that surfaced on Tuesday, Rehberg responded, "I don't know. What is it."

WATCH:

Comments

[morganplains]

11:25 AM on 03/10/2011

When will it get through to voters that Republican do not care about working people. They are beholden to corporate America and that is there only constituency. They are not the Republicans of our parents and grandparents time.

[Richard Davis 1]

10:48 AM on 03/10/2011

The way to resolve the minimum wage problem is to tie the minimum wage to Congressional salaries. Members of Congress make about $180,000 a year and the minimum wage is about $15,000 for 2000 hours of work in a year. I would suggest a minimum wage which would produce an income of 10% of what members of Congress make for 2000 hours of work. That is, the current minimum wage would be $18,000 a year, which would work out to $9 an hour. For every $2000 increase in Congressional salary the minimum wage would increase by 10 cents.

[grandma58]

12:31 AM on 03/25/2011

I think congress should get minimum and not a cent or benefit more.

[NVEnvy07]

03:13 AM on 03/25/2011

Great idea!

[whyus]

10:37 AM on 03/10/2011

It's a shame that guys like this have the same voice in Washington, D.C. as those actually representing thousands or millions of people.

[grandma58]

12:32 AM on 03/25/2011

No it is not. We have one representative based on our population and only one- he is unfortunately it.

[SUPPERMAN]

10:35 AM on 03/10/2011

Betcha he knows how many billions the Koch bros. have.

[Dis Gust]

11:03 AM on 03/10/2011

maybe not, but he knows how much they have "donated" to his campaign.

[proudtohaveserved]

09:59 AM on 03/10/2011

people: the minimum wage is next. it will be lowered probably to $2 per hour.

[jimmygeewhiz]

10:04 AM on 03/10/2011

Those that have been duped by the rhetoric of the right are oblivious to the fact that they're next on the agenda.

[The Right is Wrong]

09:31 AM on 03/10/2011

The congressman's camp pointed to the fact that the Republican lawmaker voted in favor of raising the minimum wage in 2007 as part of a measure that provided additional funding for the Iraq war.

My guess is that he only voted in favor of it to provide additional funds to the Iraq War. The min wage thing was not an issue. Now he's trying to take credit for it? Let's see if he would vote for a raise to it today!

[Hugebrass]

01:28 AM on 03/11/2011

Yes, the "minimum" wage - as in minimizing it...

http://old.nationalreview.com/nrof_bartlett/bartlett200407011515.asp

[AncientTerp]

09:29 AM on 03/10/2011

That's the next GOP target, after they engineer a corporate takeover of the public sector: eliminate the minimum wage.

[nixrox04]

09:24 AM on 03/10/2011

The GOP and their corporate bosses would like the minimum wage to about $1.35 hour.

[grandma58]

12:34 AM on 03/25/2011

I remember when it was and at that time it was quite a nice wage.

[massnana]

07:49 AM on 03/10/2011

I didn't even know people lived in Montana.

[grandma58]

12:35 AM on 03/25/2011

Oh please?

[twin1616]

06:15 AM on 03/10/2011

I, too, don't know what minimum wage is but if it is any where around $7.35 per hour, I know that I would not be able to support my family. I don't know how someone that works for that amount of money can sustain a decent lifestyle. It's the cycle of poverty in which some of our fellow Americans live.

[Ed C Atlanta]

07:21 AM on 03/10/2011

It is not hard to keep up with what the minimum wage is..mostly all working people who have visited their company's break room or HR office etc. have seen the Federal Compliance Posters, which by law have to be posted , for employees to see, these posters contain information concerning the minimum wage amountemployee rights,EEO Laws and various other inportant information to workers..There is no excuse for any employee and definitely not any employer to be unaware of what the minimum wage is,,,and one thing you said rings true, and that is that no one can support a family on the minimum wage,,but yet republicans want to take away workers rights to bargain for better for wages and benefits.

[MoeJava]

04:15 AM on 03/10/2011

just bet he'd turn into chatty kathy if you were offering campaign donations....
.

[famished]

02:18 AM on 03/10/2011

Ignorance is a defence. It just isn't the best defence.

[oilfield]

12:23 AM on 03/10/2011

i am an employer and dont know what the minimum wage is....i havent found anyone that i want to hire that will work for it.....

[Ed C Atlanta]

07:22 AM on 03/10/2011

That means you are an out of touch employer, if you not familiar with what the minimum wage is.

[oilfield]

10:07 AM on 03/10/2011

so why is it relevant if you pay more than it....we have had high school kids that we pay 10.00 an hour to. we hire...we expect work output.....if it doesnt happen we fire.....we dont want minimum work output so we dont pay minimum wage.

[Dis Gust]

11:07 AM on 03/10/2011

with all of the unemployed people out there, why don't you give us a job description of what you expect a person to do for minimum wage. Perhaps you'll get some good applicants from HP readers--if you are really an employer and if you really want to hire another employee.

[SirCoolBreeze]

10:18 PM on 03/09/2011

"I don't know what it is, but whatever it is, the Minimum Wage is too high"---Conservatives and Republicans all over America

[llyd wlsh]

09:37 PM on 03/09/2011

minimum wage doesn't count if you "wait" tables and i'm sure the esteemed congressman doesn't know how to tip decently if at all

[signgrrl]

10:37 AM on 03/10/2011

good bet