Part of President Biden's Covid-19 stimulus package was a mandated $15 federal minimum wage. Biden is giving this effort his full support, he even made the blanket statement that "if you work for less than $15 an hour and work 40 hours a week, you're living in poverty." His plea for a $15 minimum wage has long been catching people's attention, and it definitely has mass populist appeal with more than 2/3 of Americans supporting the minimum wage increase. The masses are easily deceived by his rhetoric and do not realize that increasing the minimum wage would have adverse effects and would not get people out of poverty in the long run.
The Congressional Budget Office predicts that a minimum wage hike would eliminate 1.4 million jobs and escalate the federal budget deficit to $54 million. While some would benefit from the wage increase, the policy would also cause many people to not even have the chance to be employed. Young people who are just starting in their careers will be hurt most by the new measure because it isn't truly “free money for workers,” as Biden illustrates it to be.
Nevertheless, Democrats are pushing to get the minimum wage increase to pass in the Senate through "budget reconciliation," which would require a simple majority for it to pass as opposed to the 60 vote requirement to deter Republican opposition. There is a caveat here though, budget reconciliation only applies to spending and federal revenue bills. Therefore, a minimum wage increase does not count and republicans need to fight to keep them from sneaking this through.
Wages vary by state, and a one size fits all approach does not account for all of the differences in cost of living across states. In light of the lockdowns and struggles for small businesses, a $15 minimum wage would hurt the economy. Mom and pop restaurants struggling to stay afloat would no longer be able to afford to pay their employees and would soon be out of business. It is not a policy for the everyday American as Biden champions it be. Raising the minimum wage to $15 on a national level would not stimulate the economy, but would exacerbate the economic devastation already done by Democrat governors. Whatever the fate of Biden's minimum wage increase is, conservatives need to hope together that it will not become a reality.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/02/the-hidden-costs-of-bidens-15- minimum-wage/
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-wages-cbo/bidenminimum-wage-hike-would-boost-incomes-but-cut-jobs-in-2025-cboidUSKBN2A822S
https://www.kiplinger.com/personal-finance/careers/salaries/602086/ biden-proposes-15-minimum-wage
https://fee.org/articles/15-minimum-wage-would-spell-a-death-knellfor-many-small-restaurants-expert-warns/
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/what-budget-reconciliationexplainer-fast-track-process-covid-relief-n1256592
https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/02/15-minimum-wage-bad-policy-ata-bad-time/?utm_source=recircdesktop&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=river&utm_content=more-intag&utm_term=second