$15.15 or Fight!

As with affordable health care (and countless other matters), the job of moderate Democrats is to release the build up of pressure for real change (such as universal affordable health care insurance aka single-payer aka Medicare for All) by promoting incremental improvements. The president tonight will call for raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. Context: Sen. Elizabeth Warren recently cited a study that suggested the federal minimum wage would be nearly $22 an hour today if it had kept up with increased rates in worker productivity. Progressives should be chary of embracing the president's proposal, because, as with health care reform, we have one shot at getting it right. $10.10 will lock millions of American workers in poverty forever, even if, as is unlikely, future increases are tied to the cost of living. Restaurant workers were on the money in calling for a $15 minimum in actions this year, but that won't fly politically. The president's $10.10 needs to be answered with something more just. Instead of $10.10, how about $15.15?