[thecavemaster]

Reading between the lines, what you seem to be saying is that the federal government should decide what a "living wage" is and require all employers to pay each of their employees an amount equal to or greater than that living wage, regardless of the fair market value of their labor. Is that your position?

Unless you're an idiot, which is possible, I think I am saying that even an idiot can see that the current minimum wage isn't a living wage, that many minimum wage folks get shafted out of health insurance, and that the current "structure" most often favors the Big, the Bad, the Monied elite. Who should set the minimum wage? My guess is your be all/end all answer is "market forces." We disagree. Human greed, human foible, the very condition of the human heart, as Adam Smith (and Jesus) recognized, render your position reckless, if not irresponsible.