Sorry... a $15 minimum wage is too high

[eniwetok]

231. sure, and I've made this argument in other forums

The question is what's a decent wage? You seem to believe that the HIGHEST the MW has ever been isn't enough even if it's 51% higher than it is today. The problem is that we're talking about a NATIONAL MW... not a regional one. And as such it has to make sense for EVERY region in the US... from a high flying city to some depressed backwater. But what's happened is under the guise of a living wage... and that $15 set in CITIES... people are trying to say that then can safely be applied EVERYWHERE. But who's going to hire a kid to sweep the floor in a garage and clean toilets for $15 in some depressed backwater when they may be scraping out a living at $25k? If the kid gets it... he's living high off the hog. If the employer was paying $7.25 s/he would have to cough up another a whopping $17,347 more a year, that includes $1248 extra a year for FICA. It's sooooo easy to just wave a magic wand and say.... hey... the owner of that gas station should pay that.

For a mom who's a waitress living in San Francisco... that $15 may still not cut it.

That high minded ideal for a "living wage" blinds advocates to this simple reality. Which is why I've advocated for the HIGHEST the MW has ever been as the national floor... states and cities can go above that if they want.

But we also have to remember that back in 1968 we had a protectionist economy. We have to close that escape hatch for US companies... and importers... else we're into uncharted territory.