I have no particularly insightful comments on the main subject of this article (maintaining/raising/abolishing minimum wage), but I found myself a little taken aback by the guy they interviewed.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/24/opinion/greene-minimum-wage/index.html?iref=allsearchFor the non-link-clickers:
"... I asked Mike King, a grocery worker in Collier County earning the minimum wage, if the increase to $9 would make an appreciable difference in his life.
"There's no question about it," he said.
What may seem like small change to wealthier people, he said, would allow people in his situation to be at least a little better off: "I'd be able to buy better quality food some of the time. I could pay for gas and car insurance, so I could drive to my job instead of taking public transportation or riding a bicycle. And it would help me be able to pay my electricity and phone bills on time."
...I was with him right up until the car comment. If you had more money, you'd buy gas to drive a car to work, even though you seem to get by fine without it as per your current arrangements? Seems like with extra money, he'd be right back in the same situation, but driving a car.