[allus70]

It seems perhaps we are overlooking a fundamental law of capitalism... that of supply and demand. If a particular skill set is in demand, and there is a shortage of that particular skill set, wages will rise.
Conversely, if a skill set is not in demand, or there is an overabundance of people with that skill set seeking employment, wages will fall.
We are now at a point where most of the jobs in this country which require a modest skill set have been shipped overseas or have been automated, while at the same time the size of the pool of people with these minimal skills looking for work have dramatically increased. The law of supply and demand at this level is brutally valid because there will always be many more people looking for these jobs than there will be jobs available, meaning wages will not rise, or if they do, the rise will be minimal at best.
A burger joint typically does not offer any benefits or pay above the minimum rate. In many parts of this country, there are many people without any skills and are so desperate for a job that they will take any job at any pay rate just to survive.
We as a country have to decide, is it desirable to allow the law of supply and demand to play out and have a large portion of our citizens permanently tethered to very low wages without any benefits? Does it help or hurt our economy? Who will pay for their food and medical care when they can't?
Or does the government have a role in raising wages because the usual economic forces that do so are no longer at work.
What about the mom and pop stores, will they be hurt? Will teens looking for a summer job have a harder time doing so?
As for the political ramifications, Democrats are not alone calling for a raise, such well known Conservatives as Bill O'Reilly, Mitt Romney, and Phyllis Schlafly are in agreement with the Democrats on this issue.