Ex-McDonald's CEO Rips Protesters' Demands

U.S.: If lawmakers were to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour, it would “absolutely” kill jobs, former McDonald’s CEO Ed Rensi told Fox News host Neil Cavuto Tuesday.

Rensi, who was head of McDonald's in the mid-1990s and now runs a burger chain of his own, argued Tuesday that a $15 minimum wage would put 15 to 20 percent of small businesses out of business.

Fast food workers across the country took to the streets earlier this summer, with some demanding $15 per hour. Many fast food workers have said they're struggling to survive on their near-minimum wage paychecks and that their employers could afford to pay them more, citing the billions of dollars in profits some chains take in.

A $15 minimum wage is higher than most lawmakers are considering. But many studies have found that raising the federal $7.25 minimum wage by a couple of dollars -- as President Obama proposed earlier this year -- wouldn’t affect unemployment rates in any noticeable way, according to the Washington Post.

- Huffingtonpost.com