Let market, not mandates, decide wages: #tellusatoday

Los Angeles lawmakers voted last week to boost the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020. Comments from Facebook are edited for clarity and grammar:

If ATMs, self-serve gas pumps and grocery checkouts are any indication, soon you'll be dealing with more kiosks at fast-food counters and other small businesses.

— Chris Behan

This news is some of the best I have heard. There should be no place in the world where people live inches apart but earn hundreds of dollars more or less per hour.

Many businesses in downtown Los Angeles are frequented by the rich and elites. Can they not pay a little more and give a decent wage to the poor?

— Ashik Shafi

Did anyone stop to think that raising the minimum wage will just raise the cost of living? Companies will simply raise the cost of goods to keep up with this ridiculous minimum wage. Flipping burgers or sweeping floors is not a career and should not be paid like one.

— Eric Sa

People who would seek the help of politicians to pass a law mandating that bosses start paying workers at least $15 an hour show me that they have no self-respect. Instead of leaving that job or starting their own business, they would rather use the iron fist of government to achieve their goal.

— Gregory Creswell

It is a disgrace that the federal minimum wage isn't at least $15 per hour. Investment bankers get more money for a Christmas bonus than many workers' salaries put together in a year.

— Todd Clifford

Raising the minimum wage is a good idea! Then people in L.A. will be coming into stores with money in their pockets to spend, and the economy will be better.

— Ken Kornfeld

In order for small businesses to stay in business, they will either have to reduce their staff or leave the area.

Also, what will happen to those workers who are already making $15 an hour and have been working at the same job for years? Does their salary now increase or will it stay the same?

— Robert Padick

Workers deserve livable wage

We asked what our followers thought about demonstrators urging McDonald's to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour. Comments from Twitter are edited for clarity and grammar:

As the population ages, more individuals are working just to survive. Earning $7.25 an hour is not a livable wage.

— @JeffOstach

If you don't want to work for less than $15 per hour, then don't. That is known as the labor market.

— @EricKjos

Will my order from the drive-through actually be right if the workers get paid more?

— @ShellyHeston

Minimum wage jobs aren't intended to support a family. Proven performance is a better option than protests.

— @MoScarlet

For more discussions, follow @USATOpinion and #tellusatoday on Twitter.