Is there an actual reference to the idea that the minimum wage was meant to be a "universal basic wage"? Is this in the original congressional debates, the legislation, comments by Roosevelt? (Searching for references to the phrase, I couldn't find anything from the timeframe of when the legislation was enacted.)

>and it has been corroded to uselessness over time.

The federal minimum wage has basically kept up with inflation since the 1930s. In the states where costs are higher, they generally have higher rates.