A national minimum wadge is silly to begin with and has no bearing on so-called "livable" wage in cities, let alone different states.

As a kid, I didn't make much money as a paperboy.. but I had no real sense of what was required to actually live off and used most of what I earned for junk.

My first real job I only made 7.25hr, barely got by. I was in VT at the time, in a city that was short of housing so rent was a bit expensive (two roommates in a small apartment @1k).

My second job was only 10.00hr even, but I also had % of commissions which brought it up to around 15. Sometimes more (way more) and sometimes less. I lived in a different city in NY this time around. Rent for a studio took $600 before going up which felt like clockwork, ending up around $800 before I left (the lease expired and went month to month which included a rent increase). I barely got by again at times.. but I did have enough to get high speed internet as an extra.

Now, I don't even want to talk about what I get paid. Things could only get worse if I were to be trapped in my home by a horde of zombies without an iota of provisions. My expenses are more yet my rent is almost nothing. Still in NY, just a bit more closer to civilization (outside of the big cities... someplace where people don't treat one another like enemy combatants).

Different cities and different states yield huge differences in what is livable and what the real poverty line aught to be. Setting any national minimum wage is silly. The only thing our national/federal government aught to be doing is taking back our money supply and keeping inflation in check (esp on consumables) without interfering in business practices elsewhere.

For Gods sake, let us produce something and pay those willing to work a fair wage, based on what the quality of their work... not their ethnic background for tax incentives.. not some federal mandated wage but one derived from the community in which they work.