The Republicans are right, the $15.00 minimum wage is wrong. It should be more...

It should be at least $36.00 an hour. It is not that hard to justify it. If you work 40 hours a week that is 2080 hours a year. If the *only* thing you pay for is rent, and *nothing else at all*, then that means your rent *must be* under 2,080X(minimum wage) per year. For minimum wage to be able to pay rent that is 2,080X15 = $31,200 a year minimum for a single person. Let's say $4000 a month. In Silicon Valley that is well under a single wide trailer. And that is working 40 hours a week in addition to using 100% of your income *exclusively* for rent! <br><br>It is well known that you should pay 1/3 of your income in rent. For a minimum wage worker that is currently 1/3 of 2,080X15 or $10,400 a year, or $867 a month. If you dig into the real estate ads you can find a place to live in Silicon Valley for that amount. A single-wide trailer for $800 a month, and it will be a fixer. <br><br>And that's just rent. What about food? In the real world minimum wage earners need to buy their own food. Yet the minimum wage does not take into account any cost other than housing. Say you borrow money from your parents to pay for food, or maybe you are *very very lucky* and get food stamps. <br><br>You know what someone making more than 3 times the minimum wage can afford in Silicon Valley? A nice single-wide trailer. Never mind 3 bedroom house, never mind a 2 bedroom apartment, never say a 1 bedroom apartment. A nice single-wide trailer. <br><br>So set the minimum wage to the amount where 1/3 of your gross pay gets you a single wide trailer. That is 3 times the minimum wage, or 15X3 = 45. That is the minimum wage required for a single person who has 100% government subsidies for all living expenses other than housing. However, this is the minimum wage required to get a single wide trailer with 100% of your gross income going to nothing other than housing, and government subsidies for all your other living expenses. A real minimum wage earner has to pay for food. So as a rough estimate, you should triple that amount. 45 * 3 = 135. That is the amount you would have to pay a single person who pays for all their living expenses. Triple that, to 405, if they have a wife and kids. <br><br>So set the minimum wage to $405 an hour. If a restaurant pays that much per hour to their lowest paid worker, that means that a single mom working there *could* pay for all her living expenses and more, if she worked enough overtime. A single person working at that wage *could* afford a middle class lifestyle. <br><br>Alternatively we could pay the current minimum wage of $15 an hour, and increase government assistance to make up for the shortfall. Meaning supplemental housing, supplemental nutrition (SNAP), supplemental income (TANF), etc. This would be more expensive, because that would be *double taxation*. We would need to pay the minimum wage workers out of our left pocket, and pay for all their benefits out of our right pocket. Paying a living wage out of our left pocket is cheaper than paying minimum wage out of our left pocket and all the benefits out of our right pocket. <br><br>It is well known that Republicans hate socialism. So they must want to pay a living wage with no government benefits.