Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known by her initials, AOC, has slammed some Democrats for failing to support the $15 minimum wage hike that the progressive demands. AOC said they live in a "dystopian capitalist nightmare," adding that the minimum wage should actually be $24 an hour, Breitbart News reported.

"Any person who thinks that a $15 minimum wage is the 'crazy socialist agenda' is living in a dystopian capitalist nightmare. And we should not prop that up. We should not continue that," she said in the report.

AOC stressed that there are basic goods that people could not afford to live on a $7.25 an hour, adding that it was "deeply, deeply shameful" that they are having this talk in the first place.

AOC noted that if the current inflation and productivity gains would be accounted for, the minimum wage should be $24 an hour.

AOC said that Democrats must understand how deep of a compromise the proposed minimum wage of $15 an hour with multi-year phase-in. The lawmaker noted that one should know that if you are working a full-time job, you should be able to afford to live.

AOC Slams GOP's $10 Minimum Wage Hike Proposal

GOP senators Mitt Romney and Tom Cotton proposed raising the federal hourly minimum wage from $7.25 to $10 over five years in their Higher Wages for American Workers Act. Under the legislation, it would also penalize employers who hire unauthorized immigrants, Independent reported.

AOC noted that lawmakers, who are setting the minimum wage "below a living wage," play a role in creating and preserving poverty in the country. According to the New York congresswoman, the $10 an hour is "legislated poverty."

The Economy Policy Institute (EPI) has found that the minimum wage should have exceeded $15 by 2020 if adjusted for inflation. However, it has not been raised since 2009.

Under the EPI's 2019 report, since the late 1960s, lawmakers have let the value of the minimum wage erode, which allowed inflation to eventually reduce the buying power of a minimum wage earner.

Both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have supported raising the federal minimum wage to $15. However, Biden said he doubts whether it would survive the inclusion in the proposed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. On Friday, House lawmakers approved Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, advancing the bill to the Senate.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) noted that the wage increase could raise the federal deficit by $54 billion over 10 years, which is a more dramatic increase than one predicted earlier.

The 2021 CBO report said a wage increase could lead to 1.4 million job cuts by 2025. However, it would also lift 900,000 people out of poverty and raise incomes for 17 million people, which is about 10 percent of the U.S. workforce. Another 10 million workers who earn slightly more than $15 per hour would also see pay increases.

Meanwhile, House Democrats, including AOC, wrote in a letter addressed to Biden and Harris to ask the White House to override the Senate parliamentarian's decision, noting that 81 million people elected them and called for a $15 minimum wage increase.

Some Senate Democrats had given up on the idea of trying to pass the minimum wage hike after the Senate parliamentarian ruled that the plan to gradually hike the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 did not fit the rules that govern budget bills in the Senate.

Some moderate Democrats have also rejected the $15 minimum wage hike, saying it is too high, and suggested an $11 target could be more realistic.