Raise Minimum Wages

The US worker is the most productive in the world, ahead of Germany, Japan, and leaving China in the dust, with the average GDP of $70,000 per year ($33.65/hour)! Raising minimum wages to $12/hour would generate added revenue into the economy, without greatly affecting inflation. And costs would only rise between 0.5% and 3%, meaning those on the lower income brackets would find less need for social programs, and have room for more purchases. Think tanks and pundits from both political sides agree (the American Conservative Magaizine, and Demos, a progressive think tank) that at least $12/hour would be appropriate for a real benefit to society. A wage increase of 27%, for average low income or minimum wage earners, translates to an estimated $11.8-15.2 billion per year in extra spending. "This move would also reduce the number of people on programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, Food Stamps, and Medicaid as well by raising their standards of living to the point they no longer needed the programs. This would reduce the federal budget by several billion per year without painful cuts to programs which hurt people directly. As it is right now, these programs effectively subsidize lower wages, an unintended consequence of the stagnation of the minimum wage for decades." This change would not affect those in high earning fields, but those on the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder