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Regarding raising the minimum wage, look at the results of the last increase to the minimum wage.
Legislation was enacted in May of 2007 to raise the minimum wage 40%. The next month, June is when we had the end to a 52 month streak of consecutive months with positive gains.
The employment numbers from BLS immediately be came negative. Low skilled workers were affect severely. Unemployment rates skyrocketed for minorities and teenagers. By the end of 2007, the recession was starting.
A large amount of the affected people had purchased homes with subprime mortgages. Upon losing their jobs, they were unable to pay their mortgages. There homes foreclosed. Ripple effects lead to the Financial Crisis of September 2008.
President Obama rehashed many familiar themes this evening, calling on Congress to act on a host of issues -- and vowing to take unilateral executive action if they fail to sufficiently address his priorities. A few passages were newsworthy: Obama denounced the looming sequester cuts, voiced support for "modest" Medicare reforms, called for another stimulus, resurrected cap and trade, pushed comprehensive immigration reform, backed a national hike in the minimum wage, announced another major troop draw-down in Afghanistan, and insisted that Congress allow up-or-down votes on a series of gun control measures. As is his habit, the president was...
US working families can not afford to lose their jobs. Raising the minimum wage will cause that to happen.