The opposition to raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour (which would still only be about half of the nation's median wage) has come almost exclusively from the Republicans in Congress. That's because the Republicans sold out to corporate interests long ago -- and the giant corporations don't want the minimum wage raised at all. Why? Because they are happy to let the American taxpayers pick up part of their labor costs through social programs (food stamps, housing assistance, etc.). This lets them put a part of their labor costs in the bank as increased profit.
But there may now be a crack in the wall of that corporate opposition. The CEO of the largest fast food chain in the country (Subway) has said he thinks the minimum wage should be raised to $10.10 an hour -- and he goes even further by saying the minimum wage should then be attached to the rate of inflation. CEO and founder Fred DeLuca said:
“I personally think that if I were in charge of the government, I would index the minimum wage to inflation so that way everybody knows what they can count on.”
This is important because it will take some corporations getting on board with the raise to make it happen. The Republicans will continue to block any raise in the minimum wage until their corporate masters say it is OK. and they will not allow for regular raises to keep up with inflation either.
The Republicans pose as the champions of small businesses, but they don't act that way. For them, a small business is a corporation with hundreds (if not thousands) of workers. That's why they are ignoring the wishes of real small business owners (businesses with less than a hundred workers). The real owners of small businesses have already came out in favor of raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, and connecting the minimum wage to the rate of inflation.
That was revealed in a survey last February by the Small Business Majority. About 57% of real small business owners (most of them with only a few employees) said they favored that (see chart below). If the Republicans really wanted to act in support of small business, they would raise the minimum wage (which would allow small business to compete on a more level playing field (since the corporations would have to foot their own labor costs, instead of letting the taxpayers bear that burden).
