I just have a single idealism about wages and income – anyone working 40 hours a week should be able to support himself or herself and a child. If the richest nation cannot do that now, we should strive to be that. No one who works full time should be living in poverty. No one working full time should be earning so little that they have to depend on government welfare. A minimum wage high enough to lift people out of poverty also fulfils the goal of conservatives towards making sure people are working and not depending on welfare. Will businesses like it? No. Anyone whose focus is on the bottom line would prefer to have workers work for free. Will raising the minimum hurt some small businesses? Yes. It won’t be easy. But I am sure there are small businessmen who can come up with business models to make their workers more. And I am sure large corporations can cut some salary at the top to lift their employees from working 80 hours a week. I am sure if we strive towards this goal, we can achieve the destination of eliminating the term “the working poor”.