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“Taxes too high, wages too high,” Donald Trump said. Trump: Wages are 'too high'

GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump opened the 4th primetime GOP debate by suggesting that Americans’ wages are “too high” and that it’s part of a problem with the country’s competitiveness.

“Taxes too high, wages too high,” he said, responding to a question about New York state's decision to raise the minimum wage for certain workers to $15. “We’re not going to be able to compete against the world.”

Trump rejected calls to raise the minimum wage. His rival for pole position in the Republican primary, Ben Carson, agreed.

“I would not raise it specifically because I’m interested in making sure that people are able to enter the job market and take advantage of opportunities,” he said.

Sen. Marco Rubio took a different approach, drawing a distinction between wanting higher wages for American workers and wanting a higher minimum wage, which he argued was the wrong approach.

"It’s a disaster. If you raise the minimum wage, you’re only going to make people more expensive than a machine.”

Rubio also lamented the decline of vocational education.

“Welders make more money than philosophers. We need more welders and less philosophers," he said.