Democrats in Congress, led by Senator Patty Murray, are preparing a proposal to raise the minimum wage by 65% to $12 per hour. <br /><br />The plan has little chance of passing while the Republicans control Congress. Nevertheless, as unskilled workers take to the streets to demand as much as $15 per hour in compensation, the minimum wage could become a focus of the 2016 election cycle. <br /><br />Murray’s proposal would raise the federal minimum wage to $8 per hour in 2016 from the present level of $7.25. It would then rise $1 annually until 2020.<br /><br />The proposed 65% hike would increase employer costs to $24,800 per year for the lowest-paid workers once other costs are factored in. In addition to salary, employers pay 6.2% for social security and 1.45% for Medicare tax. <br /><br />Raising costs steeply would likely impact small businesses, which would be forced to cut workers.<br /><br />Large companies already use wages to compete for labor. WalMart pays workers an average of $12.67 per hour, while Costco pays $20.89 per hour on average. So guess which company employs the labor market’s best retail workers? If you’re a solid retail employee, you’re going to take your talents to Costco.<br /><br />While doing better by America’s lowest-paid workers is a laudable goal, is there a better way to raise wages in America? Perhaps Senator Murray can teach low-wage workers to raise their skill set.<br /><br />-------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />Daily videos brought to you by THE Taiwanese Animators behind the infamous Tiger Woods animation. We got the funniest animations on the web to help you stay in-the-know on all the trending stories, so sit back, relax, and watch a few.<br /><br />Can't get enough of Taiwanese animations? Connect with us here:<br />Facebook http://www.facebook.com/NMAtv<br />Twitter @nmatv http://www.twitter.com/nmatv<br />Google+ http://gplus.to/NMAtv
