Andrea Joy Campbell: “I appreciate my colleague giving me just a brief moment to respond. We ought to recognize the tradeoff and put some…”

“I appreciate my colleague giving me just a brief moment to respond. We ought to recognize the tradeoff and put some numbers on it. I think all reasonable commentators have said, ``You lose jobs if you increase the minimum wage, but if you're lucky enough still to have a job, you will do better.'' What are the numbers? The Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us that 214,000 wage earners support families on a minimum wage, which is less than 2 tenths of 1 percent of all wage earners. So the number that we keep hearing, the 4.7 million who make the minimum wage, is not right. It is rather how many are supporting families on it. Less than 2 tenths of 1 percent benefited. And how many would lose jobs? The best estimates that we have seen are between 500,000 and 700,000. And so here is the tradeoff. Do we for the political opportunity of this moment sacrifice the employment of half a million in order to increase earnings for the 214,000? I say ``no.''”