Raising the minimum wage does not "just" impact low-income workers, at the margins. It actually affects the entire economy because many contracts are tied to _

Raising the minimum wage does not "just" impact low-income workers, at the margins. It actually affects the entire economy because many contracts are tied to __multiples of__ the minimum wage. So it's not just about marginal workers either (a) getting a raise, or (b) losing (or not getting) a job. It's far more about union workers and other collective bargaining agreements with pay and benefits tied to minimum wage. Those are the people the legislation is designed to benefit. If anything, low-income workers are a distraction. And that's why it's a core Democrat issue, not because it helps the poor or the young. Government already has programs that effect the poor and young far more than any minor adjustment in the minimum wage, but those programs do nothing for those under collective bargaining agreements, which is the actual purpose of increasing the minimum wage.