Ahhhhhh yes, the compassion argument. But where is the compassion for the low skilled worker who can't get a job 'cause he/she's only worth $4.00 an hour and the minimum wage is higher? Setting wages by government fiat has no compassion at all.
One problem we have now is there seems to be a maximum wage so the government is bringing in millions of low-skilled types to keep wages down and sending low-skilled jobs out of the country. When the population is stable it all works out --- shortages in the labor pool bring the wages up to a level everyone can live with. The equilibrium is being disrupted by free trade agreements and massive immigration.