You're also operating under the false assption that the majority of Americans are employed by corporations that have the ability to absorb minimum wage hikes but, as has been pointed out in another reply to your comment, this is not the case. I only used Starbucks as an example of my experience in the service industry, locally owned coffee shops in my area operated with similar employee numbers so I was presenting my experience at Starbucks as an example of the numbers I was using, not as the example business I was arguing for as a locally owned coffee shop would not have the 12% margins Starbucks enjoys.

The vast majority of people in the United States are either employed by small, privately owned businesses with small margins or in Government which is already operating at a deficit (something only the government can do.) These sectors are not capable of absorbing these increased costs, by enforcing them by law you are ushering in the destruction of small, privately owned business that can't compete with the larger corporations.