Support the Graduated Minimum Wage

We can all agree that the minimum wage is too low to meet cost of living expenses in most states, but blanketly raising it hurts small businesses more than large ones, ultimately stifling competition and further empowering large corporations. We all support a graduated income tax, why not a graduated minimum wage. Large corporations have managed to grossly reduce their effective tax rate due to voter complacency, but would they find the same complacency if they tried to lower their employees wages?

Most small businesses usually pay over min. wage as is. So simply raising it may not obligate them to pay more than they already are, while requiring the larger corps. that do pay the minimum to catch up. HOWEVER: graduating it nullifies the largely false argument that small businesses can't afford the wage raise, and still protects them in that their *perceived obligation* to pay above the minimum can still be met. This is not in contradiction to the minimum wage raise to $9.80 (~$20k/yr for full-time, it's about time), it's just for the big-box employees' minimum wages to rise to $11+/hr too.