This reminds me of a few years back when Seattle announced $15 minimum wage. The highest in the nation at the time. Conservatives were terrified but had they looked at the data they might have felt different. After all, "facts don't care about feelings." We don't have to speculate about what would happen if minimum wages went up. Every single state in country, along with the Fed has raised min. wage multiple times. We can look at history to see that every time it leads to an improved economy.

So what happened in Seattle? Are all the restuaurants closed? Are low wage workers out of jobs? Has Seattle failed? No quite the opposite. Washington, like all 'blue' states has a stronger economy than most other states. That's why Fox doesn't talk about it anymore. There was a 'Foster Freeze' in Seattle too that conservatives loved to trot out at the time. Forced to close because the mean old government demanded that people pay living wages. Of course we later learned that the owner wasn't able to retain employees due to poor scheduling, wasn't paying taxes and wasn't paying vendors all long before the wage increase. Fox for some reason didn't provide that update.

And now they have found a new martyr to trot out. Of course this one even admits up front that the restaurant is EXEMPT from the law, and laments that she wasn't given any warning! Somehow the rest of the nation knew this was happening. It seems the real issue is this: Why on Earth would anybody continue working at Foster Freeze when the Mcdonald's next door is paying a living wage?

Restaurants are a luxury. Either the pay reflects that and they get paid a decent wage or the market will react somehow.

Ah yes, an economic expert, a 30 year old who manages a burger shop. I feel like we’re not getting the whole story from the owner. Why would he prefer to close his restaurants entirely over a small increase in costs?

I’ve lived in much smaller areas that have minimum wages of $15 and $18, which is about proportional given the cost of living in CA. Sorry to disrupt the Fox-driven panic but restaurants do still exist and thrive in those cities. The previous minimum wage was $16, also, so while the article wants to make it seem drastic, the increase is really not, especially since many cities already had higher minimums than 16.