I wonder if they'll increase the minimum wage when it passes the price of a gallon of gas

Fun with numbers:

According to the US Energy Information Administration:
In 2001 the average price of a regular gallon of gas nationwide was $1.14.
In 2005 the average price of a regular gallon of gas nationwide was $2.31

That is an increase of 202% over 4 years. Given that we can assume the same historical increases; the price of one gallon of gas will exceed the minimum wage of $5.15 in year 2010.

More fun:

According to the 2004 US Census:
The average commute nationwide is 24.4 minutes and 15 miles one direction or 48.8 minutes and 30 miles round trip for one day of work.

According to the Department of Transportation:
The average vehicle nationwide gets 21 miles per gallon.

According to the Energy Information Administration:
The July 17, 2006 national average of a gallon of regluar gas is $2.99.

So it takes longer for an employee making minimum wage and using all of the national averages less time to commute to work then to make up the money to pay for that commute.

Work shown:
30 miles/21mpg = 1.428571 gallons of gas for a single day commute
1.428571 x $2.99 = $4.27 dollars for one day commute
$4.27/$5.15 = .8291216 or 83% of an hour to pay for commute
60 minutes an hour x .8291216 = 50 minutes of work to pay for the commute

Yet even more fun:

According to the National Tax Foundation:
The average national tax percentage is 31.6%

According to the US Department of Labor:
The average national work week is 42 hours

So the average minimum wage worker, with the national average commute and the national average taxes taken into account, and not taken into account is the Earned Income Tax Credit because that is money refunded once a year and is not applicable to weekly expenses, takes home $126.18 a week.

Work shown:
42 hours a week x .316 percentage of tax = 13 hours 14 minutes per week to pay for taxes.
50 minutes to pay for commute x 5 days = 4 hours and 15 minutes
13 hours and 14 minutes + 4 hours and 15 minutes = 17 hours and 29 minutes
42 hours – 17 hours and 29 minutes = 24 hours and 31 minutes
24 hours and 31 minutes x $5.15 = $126.18

Sources:
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/ftparea/wogirs/xls/pswrgvwaf.xls
www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/american_community_survey_acs/001695.html
www.gao.gov/decisions/majrule/d03675r.htm
http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/sr140.pdf
http://www.bls.gov/schedule/archives/empsit_nr.htm