The reality is people receiving minimum wage are a vulnerable population of people who are either no longer capable, or fundamentally incapable of skilled work. A minimum wage acts to protect these people from being taken advantage of by the aforementioned sociopaths.
Walmart is subsidized by the tax payer (
Amazon as well - but in a marginally different way). Instead of simply pegging minimum wage to inflation (which is the rational thing to do but still not sufficient), the government is saying "you successful tax payers can pay more so these companies can pay less for workers who require subsidy". A minimum wage of $15 might be too much given the current CPI, but $12 is probably closer to correct. It's a marginal change, will not effect the "mom and pops" who typically employee 1-2 of these workers, and get people off of welfare and off of our tax money. Unfortunately Republicans and Democrats alike who are bedfellows with the Musks, Waltons, and Bezoses will never allow this to happen. Bonus points for all the paste eating idiots who say "food prices will go up", because if they do people will stop buying and we've successfully demonstrated the companies were not innovative but were powered instead by virtual slave labor and their business model lacked any
actual successful qualities.
In not supporting a minimum wage increase, Republicans are indirectly supporting the thing they allegedly hate most: taxes. Taxes have to increase to fund social programs that shouldn't be needed except for the case here in America you can be "working poor" - trying to make an honest living but
still need welfare. If you want workers off the taxpayer teet raise the minimum wage and let the marginally profitable and unprofitable companies fall apart instead of supporting them with virtual slave labor.
