(1) If companies were to get together and agree on a minimum wage, that would be called monopolistic collusion. The business owners would be facing jail time.
Having the government involved doesn't make the damage done to the free market any worse. In fact, the government simply sets the entry level wage and most businesses take advantage of it. Individual's talents and potential are discounted at the entry level. Nobody talks about the entry level employees who make much less than they are worth.
(2) As most people on this forum have noted, if $22 is Steyer's figure, then why not $23 or even $30? The answer is point (3) of this discussion.
(3) Minimum wage is a LIE! The real minimum wage is $0. This is because when the minimum wage is set above the market value of the people being employed, their jobs will disappear. Granted, there is some elasticity to the figure and some people currently employed are not worth what they are being paid. But that simply means that business costs are shifted and some workers make less than what they are worth and some businesses see less profit which pushes them closer to a decision to close their doors.
No, the first question is SHOULD Republican alienate workers by "countering" the minimum wage. Is that politically smart or savvy? The GOP should be trying to attract blue collar and workers in general. This issue is a litmus test.