/biz/ - Business & Finance

The U.S. is not comparable to any other 1st world country with cost of living discrepancies.
Several states already turn a blind eye to the current minimum wage because its simply impossible for rural counties.
$15 an hour is not enough for city living and is a ludicrous expectation for the pawn shops and general stores of Maine.

Here is the problem for the US: So long as poor states exist, rich states can't raise their own minimum wage too high without fear of business moving out to poor states. And the federal government can't raise federal minimum wage to livable city/suburban levels or half of America would have to ignore the law outright. This is why we have states like California screeching for higher federal minimum wage while refusing to raise it to the same requested level themselves.