Socialist Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib thinks a $15 per hour minimum wage is so 2012.

The cost of food and other essentials has increased since the far left campaign to raise the federal minimum wage was born in New York City seven years ago, she complained, so it’s time to up the ante.


“For $2.13, as a tipped employee $2.13 per hour federally, … in Michigan it’s over $3.50 … but think about that for one minute. People cannot live on those kinds of wages, and we can’t allow people to be living off of tips, or relying on tipped wages or whatever they call it, tipped income, because it’s just not enough to support our families,” Tlaib told attendees at an “One Fair Wage” event in Detroit on Sunday.

“Big fights like this one, $15. By the way, when we started it, it should’ve been $15. Now I think it should be $20, make sure America Rising hears that,” she said, referring to the PAC dedicated to exposing radial Democrats.

America Rising posted the clip of Tlaib’s comments to YouTube.

“It should be $20 per hour, $18 to $20 per hour at this point,” Tlaib said. “All the costs, they say oh this is going to raise the costs. I can tell you milk has gone up, eggs has gone up, everything has gone up, the cost of food has gone up. The cost of a lot of things we need has gone up already.”

Tlaib didn’t bother to discuss the distinction between tipped employees and standard hourly wage employees. The former earn far more than the $2.13 federal minimum hourly wage through cash and credit tips that often push pay to well over $20 per hour.

Her comments follow hype over legislation approved by House Democrats to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, the culmination of years of lobbying by labor activists who have used strikes and other protests in the “Fight for $15.”

The effort is subsidized by unions hoping to organize fast food workers and other professions.

Since 2012, the Fight for $15 has protested in more than 300 cities and 60 countries around the world, according to the group’s website.

“Now, $15/hr is law in California and New York State. It’s law in Seattle, in Pennsylvania for nursing home and hospital workers, and for municipal employees in countless cities,” Fight for $15 reports. “Mayors, city councils, and state government across the nation have announced $15 initiatives.”

Tlaib, who donned an apron to stump for the cause in Detroit, patted herself and fellow Democrats on the back for pushing the $15 minimum wage through the House, and she used the photo opp on Sunday to call on the Republican controlled Senate to follow suit.

“Fighting for our working families sometimes mean walking in their shoes. It was only for an hour, but it was hard work,” Tlaib posted to Twitter, with a picture of her doling out bread to patrons. “@HouseDemocrats passed #Fightfor15 #OneFairWage & now the Senate needs to,” she wrote.

The odds of that happening, however, are slim to none, as Republicans have repeatedly pointed out how artificially inflating wages hurts the people Democrats supposedly want to help. Critics argue the added costs will force employers, particularly small businesses that commonly employ waitresses and other low-skill workers, to pass on the expense to customers, or to cut staff or other expenses to cover the added cost.