they know that. they are not able to sell it, and so instead of talking about the real issues that people are concerned with, it s this shiny red ball syndrome. look over here at the shiny red ball. reporter: but a prominent house democrat says bigger checks for these workers would benefit everyone. the way to grow the economy is not pay people subpoverty wages. the way to growth economy is to make sure they have livable wages but also to invest in opportunity and jobs. reporter: in berkeley, california, senator rand paul said he thinks boosting the hourly rate from $7.25 would likely backfire. statistics have shown that the people hurt most by raising the minimum wage above the market wage are black teenagers. the people who have the highest unemployment in our country are black teenagers. the thing is if you want to hurt the most disadvantaged in our country raise the minimum wage, so i don t think it s a good idea. reporter: a group of nobel laureates recently sent a lette