[Townhall] Millions of Americans are out of work due to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. Thousands more are unemployed because of President Joe Biden's decision to cancel the Keystone XL Pipeline. Despite the tough times, progressive Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) believes "now is the right time" for Congress to press forward with a $15-an-hour minimum wage, something they tied to the latest COVID relief package.According to Khanna, Amazon and Target made a decision to raise their minimum wage to $15-an-hour across the nation. As a result, Khanna says, the companies have produced more jobs (yet he doesn't take into account that more people are shopping online due to lockdown restrictions and the pandemic).
The most concerning aspect, however, is Khanna knows pushing up the minimum wage would be detrimental to small businesses, yet he doesn't care.
"Businesses like Amazon and McDonald's, for example, can and perhaps should, pay more, but I'm wondering, what is your plan for smaller businesses?" CNN's Abby Phillip asked. "How does this, in your view, affect mom and pop businesses who are just struggling to keep their doors open, keep workers on the payroll right now?"
"Well, they shouldn't be doing it by paying people low wages," Khanna replied. "We don't want low-wage businesses. Most successful small businesses can pay a fair wage."
According to the congressman, if workers were paid for their productivity, they would be making $23-an-hour.
"I love small businesses. I'm all for it but I don't want small businesses that are underpaying employees," he said. "It's fair for people to make what they're producing and I think $15 is very reasonable in this country."