The runaway inflation raging under Joe Biden’s failed presidency has gotten so bad that some Americans are being priced out of eating at McDonald’s.
Exacerbating the situation in California is the new $20-an-hour minimum wage, which has forced many fast food chains — once considered an affordable meal option — to anger customers by hiking prices.
This is the second time in three months the Golden State has raised its minimum wage. In January, the state increased the minimum wage to $16 an hour from $11.
A TikTok user lamented that she had paid more than $25 for a 40-piece Chicken McNugget meal, which included two large fries but no soda.
McDonald’s meal deals have historically come with a drink and fries.
“Okay, so it’s $25.39 for 40-piece nuggets and two large fries,” she said. “You couldn’t even throw in the Sprite?
“You couldn’t even throw in, like, a medium Sprite in there? Holy crap.”
@shannon_montipaya … maybe even a small that two people can share? This is McFlation #mcdonalds ♬ original sound – ✨ Shannon ✨
Is this deal outrageous?
The video has since gone viral, garnering more than 39,000 “likes” and 5,000 comments by Thursday morning from viewers who commiserated about the exorbitant price.
It’s not just McDonald’s that has raised its prices in response to California’s $20-an-hour minimum wage, which went into effect on April 1.
Burger King, Chipotle, In-N-Out have also raised prices to offset higher labor costs, which inevitably get passed down to customers.
Scott Rodrick, who owns 18 McDonald’s restaurants in California, said he’s worried that constantly raising prices will drive away consumers.
“The appetite that my customers have for price increases is not unlimited,” he told Business Insider on Monday.
Rodrick said he has increased prices at his restaurants between 5 percent and 7 percent since January, citing higher labor costs and crippling inflation.
“There is more than extraordinary labor costs stressing restaurant P&Ls [profits and losses] right now,” he told the Insider. “The same grocery inflation that consumers at home worry about is also worrying restaurants just as a basket of groceries.”
“So what I’m really dealing with, outside of the historical pace of things, is this double-barrel shotgun of backdoor food costs, and now labor going off and leaving a brutal mark on my unit profitability,” he said.
At this rate, Rodrick said he may have no choice but to reduce work hours for his employees and further raise menu prices.
In a bitter irony, employees could end up making less money if their work hours are slashed, even though their hourly pay is now higher.
Last month, Mod Pizza — a popular pizza chain — abruptly closed 27 locations nationwide, including five in California.
This is not the great victory for workers that Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom had touted when enacting the latest wage hike.
Mod Pizza closes 5 California locations as $20-an-hour minimum wage law takes effect https://t.co/GcRHfY0CRs pic.twitter.com/x0kisV4Pmm
— New York Post (@nypost) April 4, 2024
One former worker said he was initially in favor of the wage hike, but that was before he abruptly got laid off.
“I mean, nobody is going to turn down a raise, but at the end of the day, with repercussions like this, was it worth it?” he said, according to KMPH-TV.
“I love this company. It really sucks. I put, you know, blood, sweat, and tears into this. I opened the Fresno location. They closed that location. I helped open this location, and now it’s closed as well,” the former employee lamented.
Increasing wages sounds like a great idea because everyone should have a livable income. But you have to consider the fallout impact such a move will have — on businesses, workers and consumers.
But this is the typical, mindless Democrat approach to everything. They rabidly push lofty agendas that sound great in theory, but are destructive when put into practice.
