Spurge, you really need to take an economics course. Your failure to understand the economic impact of wage increase is sad.
The wage portion of the retail cost of a good is going to be about 20%. Let's assume a 20% increase in wages as well. So, 20% of 20%. Well, if something costs $6.00, then the wage portion is $1.20, which makes the increase what? What's 20% of $1.20? 24¢.
Ok. So, the minimum wage right now is $7.25. A 20% wage increase is what? $1.45. That's $1.45 per hour more that goes into the hands of a consumer. Low income wage earners put a higher percentage of their income back into the economy than higher wage earners do. Why is this good?
A few reasons.
A person who makes $1.45 more per hour is going to buy more goods, those purchases translate into work someone else somewhere else has to do. So that electronics assembler in Dublin, OH that makes the main system board for the hottest electronic device on the market today can add a third shift because a whole new group of people have access to their products. In turn, the factory has to purchase more materials to make their electronics devices, thus investing more capital into their business. For that third shift, they also have to hire more employees, removing individuals from unemployment or allowing some to move from lower wage jobs to a higher wage job.
What else does it do? By earning more money, it increases the income level of those involved. Why is this important? Because it means fewer people will require benefits like SNAP or health insurance provided through the US government. Thus, the government doesn't expend revenue (a negative on one hand, a positive on the other).
The impact of a wage increase, such as an increase in the minimum wage, has a substantial multiplier effect on the entire economy. Yes, some people will lose their jobs. I can assure you, it takes no less than 8 people to run a McDonald's with any kind of efficiency. McDonald's, Wal-Mart, and others will need a substantial workforce.
Any negative effects of a wage increase (especially in the minimum wage) is short term. The economy will rebound. Why? 2/3rd of the economy is driven by consumer spending. As spending increases, investment increases, government expenditures go down, and business capital investments increase,
When someone from a higher income wage is given a wage increase, more often than not, a greater percentage of that increase goes into savings and investments. There is no expansion of the economy on the scale of what is generated by consumer spending. If Warren Buffet got a 20% increase in pay, the entire 20% increase would be invested in an investment of one form or another. That isn't meant to discount the consumer spending higher wage earners perform on the economy, but as wages increase the amount of people that enjoy those higher wages decreases. So, a 20% increase in wages for 40% of the population actually has a greater impact on the economy than a 20% increase for just 2% of the population.
Don't try to justify a position with suggesting tax cuts. A 20% wage increase actually has a greater positive impact than a 20% tax cut could. A tax cut impacts government revenue, which impacts government expenditures, government expenditures will impact industrial activity, that means a reduction in labor, which means more people are unemployed. Businesses don't expand their business based on tax cuts. In fact, as it happens, US corporations are sitting on the largest cash reserves known in history. That might sound great on a balance sheet, but in an economy it is a scary thing. Companies with cash assets aren't using it to expand their business. They have the resources to do so, but there is no consumer/corporate spending to drive that need to expand the business.
So how do you increase spending, in order to increase production? Give a group of people a mandatory pay raise. The economy will grow because of it. That is precisely why states are increasing their minimum wage laws. Michigan, which is controlled by a Republican majority in both the House and Senate, as well as having a Republican governor signed a minimum wage increase law.
If you understand how the economy works, a minimum wage increase makes sense. If you don't actually understand how the economy works, then no. A minimum wage is a stupid thing and we shouldn't do it.