What will $20 get you?

This sums up the argument in favor of an increase in the minimum wage rather succinctly.

At a time when corporate profits are at an all-time high and are expected to rise even higher, I think it’s clear the federal minimum wage needs to be increased to a level that will allow all workers to live above the poverty line – say $15 per hour.

While conservatives want us to believe that our economy would crash if the federal minimum wage were raised, new data released by the Department of Labor suggests that raising the minimum wage in some states might have spurred job growth, a reality that runs contrary to conservative talking points.

“In the 13 states that boosted their minimums at the beginning of the year, the number of jobs grew an average of 0.85 percent from January through June. The average for the other 37 states was 0.61 percent.

“Nine of the 13 states increased their minimum wages automatically in line with inflation: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. Four more states — Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island — approved legislation mandating the increases.”

I’m willing to bet our national economy would actually flourish if the federal minimum wage was raised to a level that would all folks who were used to making ends meet on $7.25 per hour to have enough enough money to actually make ends meet and still have some disposable income left over.