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If the law of averages really worked, then the upcoming hike in the minimum wage would help offset consumers' surging food and fuel costs. Former presidential hopeful John Edwards speaks at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice in Newark, N.J., Friday, July 11, 2008. Edwards urged New Jersey lawmakers to raise the state's current hourly rate from $7.15 to $8.50 an hour. He says the move could help lift thousands of working poor into the middle class. Pedro Rivas, head of the New Jersey Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, stands at left.