But when you consider that the real purpose is to allow Freedom-Haters to congratulate themselves on how much they care . . .

 . . . you understand that the real-world consequences of the minimum wage phase them not a bit:

New research from the University of California at San Diego looked at the impact of minimum wage hikes across the country beginning in 2009, after the official end of the last recession. The increases were the result of a boost in the federal minimum wage and states’ independent legislative action. The hikes significantly reduced the employment of low-skilled workers. The loss of work was far greater in those states which had the biggest increases in the mandated minimum wage.

Interestingly, the states which were required to hike their wages the most and experienced the most significant employment loss had less severe impacts from the housing crisis than states that didn’t experience large increases in their minimum wage. In other words, states with less negative impact from the recession still experienced higher employment loss among low-skilled workers because of the wage hike.

This new study confirms what decades of prior research and common sense tell us. When government increases the “price” of the lowest-skilled jobs, those workers with the least skills will have a harder time finding employment. Tragically, these workers are most in need of the “help” offered by politicians and pundits in support of higher minimum wages.

The new research found that the higher minimum wages on their own lowered the employment-to-population ratio of working adults by 0.7 percentage points. This is a 14% employment decline, throwing 1.4 million workers out of jobs. It is important to remember these adults have the least skills and will have a difficult time rejoining the labor force.

So those at the bottom economic rung remain dependent on government power, whether it's the power to make private organizations pay them more, or the power to more directly keep their bellies full with SNAP cards.