[KarlInOhio]

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D.-Mass.) said he was willing to raise the minimum wage much higher. He, along with Rep. George Miller (D.-Calif.), said, “We’re going to introduce a bill to raise it to $9.70 an hour.”

Dems: chopping off the lowest rungs of the economic ladder too keep a loyal base off the ladder.

By the way, is there any constitutional basis for a federal minimum wage. Maybe if you tied the commerce clause in a knot you could argue that companies involved in interstate commerce could be made to comply. But that doesn't explain how a little mom and pop shop doing local business only could be forced to comply with a federal minimum wage.

[DuncanWaring]

By the way, is there any constitutional basis for a federal minimum wage.

There's no constitutional basis for 90% of everything the Fed government does these days.

As Vin Suprynowicz put it:

As a recipe for limited government, this Constitution now matches the creature it's supposed to describe about as well as a Chihuahua's carry-on "Pet Kennel" would fit a loping Irish wolfhound.

[rhombus]

By the way, is there any constitutional basis for a federal minimum wage. Maybe if you tied the commerce clause in a knot...

Like that's never been done before. ;-)

[jaydubya2]

I’m against a minimum wage, but to avoid it being a constant political issue, why not just base it on some market percentage that fluctuates with the economy and let it adjust itself?

[Myrddin]

But that doesn't explain how a little mom and pop shop doing local business only could be forced to comply with a federal minimum wage.

If mom and pop only use and sell products produced within state boundaries, they could make a good argument that no interstate commerce was involved. If they purchase something across a state line, the feds will claim that is interstate commerce. That's the hook they employ to justify gun control laws. The manufactured product crosses state lines enroute to the retailer.

Cranking up minimum wage just means more unemployment for legal citizens and more cash under the table to illegal aliens to cover the labor needs.