[mykroar]

Terribly written article

California and Massachusetts will have the highest Jan. 1 increase at $10.00 per hour. While the District of Columbia will have the highest increase in 2016 on July 1 at $11.50 per hour.

Those are the new wages, not the increases. Fairly self-explanatory, but still worded terribly.

[Jim Robinson]

Guess the higher minimum wage is needed to improve their high unemployment situation?

[Blood of Tyrants]

If increasing the minimum wage to $10/hr is a good idea, why not make it $100/hr and solve poverty in one swell foop?

[Responsibility2nd]

With the exception of Arkansas - all these are liberal states.

[Mollypitcher1]

So increases in minimum wage will mean EVERYTHING will be MORE expensive, but the recipients of Social Security will not receive one penny more this year. Tighten your belts again, those of you who worked for all your lifetime and now are relegated to the dead heap.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

These 12 States Are Starting 2016 With A Higher Minimum Wagehigher unemployment that will stubbornly stay high

[Steely Tom]

“These 12 States Are Starting 2016 With Increased Subsidies For The Robot Industry”

[CGASMIA68]

Not a numbers guy but I will guess a few have the highest exodus numbers too

[thackney]

The Seattle $15 wage has some issues.

http://www.seattletimes.com/business/economy/is-seattles-minimum-wage-killing-jobs/

Also, we have a ways to go before the wage really hits $15. The largest employers must pay it beginning in 2017; smaller companies may have until 2021.

- - - - - -

http://murray.seattle.gov/minimumwage/#sthash.c7DCqfH7.VpEScjg1.dpbs

Schedule 1 employers (more than 500 employees in the U.S.)

Schedule 1 employers shall pay each employee an hourly minimum wage of at least:

$11.00 by April 1,

2015 $13.00 by January 1,

2016 $15.00 by January 1, 2017

[BerniesFriend]

These 12 States Are Starting 2016 With A Higher Minimum Wage

"Work is great, now that humans are pricing themselves out of work." said checkout #324 at San Dimas McDonalds #2589. "Sure we work long hours and have no vacation or sick time, but dammit..we are only machines." said the recently installed equipment. "If I had human emotions, which I don't, I would have been moved when all those young entry level employees had to be let go because humans in power have no understanding of basic economics. Oh well, I must take this order."

[dangus]

I used to be opposed to minimum wage hikes. And, given a liberty-focused government for several years, I would want to get rid of them. But here’s the plain, ugly facts:

There is no free market at play. And precisely because of the unemployment situation, we’re not dealing with teenagers. This isn’t 1950s America anymore.

No-one really makes less than $15 an hour in most of the areas covered by these minimum wages. McDonald’s pays them $7, and then the taxpayer subsidizes the rest.

Again: This isn’t about raising minimum wages; this is about ending the taxpayer subsidization of wages.

And it’s worse than that:

It’s entirely true that most Americans WON’T work for only $7 an hour... because they get more from federal assistance if they don’t. So the people who we’re talking about not hiring aren’t the unemployed; they are illegal aliens.

Again, fewer low-wage workers doesn’t mean more unemployment; it means fewer illegal aliens.

When we get rid of illegal aliens, and taxpayer subsidization of adult wages, I’ll figure the free market can set the minimum wage. Until then, screw McDonald’s. I don’t want to see my country destroyed so McDonald’s can sell $1.09 double cheeseburgers instead of $1.29 double cheeseburgers.

I’ll gladly pay $.20 more for my double cheeseburger... and probably save twice as much in national debt.

[faithhopecharity]

I acknowledge always having a softness for the idea of a minimum wage (suspending ideology, yes)... but each time the minimum is raised there are less and less jobs

raising the minimum wage now... when there are 104,000,000 working-age Americans without employment.. is deplorable...imho.

perhaps if we can recover someday from the “Great Obama Depression”...and there are jobs again for people...then raising the minimum wage might be ok.

So, all I’m saying is ...that IF we are to have a minimum wage, that THIS is a particularly awful time to raise it.
All this shows is the utter contempt certain politicians have for poor people and people who want (or need) to get started in life

[familyop]

Colorado is only going to follow the consumer price index to set the minimum wage yearly. That may mean a Colorado minimum wage of only $8.31 per hour on the 1st.

http://www.coloradorestaurant.com/news/Minimum-Wage-Increase-January-1—2016

[familyop]

Some folks mentioned Social Security vs. minimum wages.

OpenSecrets.org

http://www.opensecrets.org/usearch/?q=National+Cmte+to+Preserve+Social+Security&cx=010677907462955562473%3Anlldkv0jvam&cof=FORID%3A11

National Cmte to Preserve Social Security
2014 PAC Contribution Data
Contributions from this PAC to federal candidates (list recipients)
(99% to Democrats, 1% to Republicans) $302,691
Contributions to this PAC from individual donors of $200 or more ( list donors)

[familyop]

State and local employees and pensioners vs. minimum wage:

OpenSecrets.org
American Fedn of St/Cnty/Munic Employees [State/County/Municipal Employees]
[Total Contributions:] $94,708,977
[To Dems & liberals:] $93,739,954
[To Repubs & Conservs:] $671,755
[Pct to Dems & liberals:] 99%
[Pct to Repubs & Conservs:] 1%

Government employees in general:

Leviathan (Uncle Sam employs more people than you think)
National Review ^ | 02/03/2011 | Iain Murray
"...nearly 40 million Americans employed in some way by government."

That's why both sides in politics lean so far to the left, that they're pushing for more funding against, for example, increases in minimum wages...and everyting else, especially against the private sector.