Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is thinking bigger than the Fight for 15.

The socialist is now pushing for a $17 hourly minimum wage rather than the $15 hourly wage he backed during his unsuccessful 2016 and 2020 Democratic primary presidential bids.

“The reason we are assembled here this morning is not complicated. In the year 2023, in the richest country in the world, nobody should be forced to work for starvation wages,” Sanders said at a news conference last week. “That’s not a radical idea. You work 40, 50 hours a week, you should not be living in poverty. It is time to raise the minimum wage to a living wage.”

If Sanders cares about raising the minimum wage, he should work with people on both sides of the aisle to try to get something done. Instead, Sanders is virtue-signaling about a potential $17-an-hour federal minimum wage.

There is zero chance the federal government will boost the hourly minimum wage to $17 in the next several years. Therefore, this is not a serious bill from Sanders, just as the Fight for 15 was never a plausible idea federally.

In 2021, a $15 hourly minimum wage faced bipartisan opposition. When it came up for a vote in the Senate in March 2021, the provision failed 42-58 , and eight Democrats opposed the measure.

That is not to say that Sanders could not or should not propose a feasible minimum wage increase. He could, and it would be politically popular .

Since July 2009, the minimum wage has been $7.25 per hour at the federal level. It has lost purchasing power due to inflation. Back then, $7.25 had the same purchasing power that $10.29 had in March 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics .

While a $15-an-hour minimum wage would be a job killer in some parts of the country, a modest increase would not have the same negative impact. A $15 hourly wage would kill 1.4 million jobs despite boosting pay for 17 million people. Poorer parts of the country would disproportionately see that job loss.

Yet a $10 minimum wage would result in minimal job loss and increased pay for some workers. Additionally, some people want to index the minimum wage to inflation to prevent workers from losing purchasing power as the cost of living increases, as it has over the past 14 years. Sanders's home state of Vermont ties its minimum wage to the consumer price index. Therefore, it has a $13.18 minimum wage , a $0.63 increase from 2022.

A minimum wage increase would likely need 60 votes to pass in the Senate plus a simple majority in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. In the Senate, such a proposal would need support from every Democrat plus nine Republicans.

Several Senate Republicans support raising the minimum wage. Sens. Mitt Romney (R-UT), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and Susan Collins (R-ME) backed a bill in 2021 that would have raised the federal minimum wage, enacted mandatory E-Verify to prevent illegal hiring, and indexed the minimum wage to inflation. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) wants to index the minimum wage to inflation, and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) wants corporations worth more than $1 billion to pay a $15 hourly minimum wage .

That is six Republican senators who back at least some form of a minimum wage increase. If a proposal could garner support from three other Republicans, including centrist Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), a minimum wage increase could be feasible.

If Sanders wants a $17 hourly minimum wage, he should use his celebrity status to organize a minimum wage increase referendum in Vermont. Most states will not have a $17 hourly minimum wage soon.

Tom Joyce ( @TomJoyceSports ) is a political reporter for the New Boston Post in Massachusetts.