Prices are rising again — but for once, Joe Biden is not to blame. Unsurprisingly, however, another Democrat is.
Recent surveys have revealed the extent to which restaurant prices have skyrocketed in California since that state’s new minimum wage for chain restaurants took effect. Even though Biden had nothing to do with this latest bout of rising costs for residents, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-French Laundry) and Golden State lawmakers helped bring it about.
Soaring Prices
Research published in The Wall Street Journal provided visual evidence of how the required higher wage, which took effect on April 1, had raised prices of meals in California restaurants by as much as 10 percent over the past two months alone:
The Journal interviewed one Los Angeles resident who said “his usual $16 meal that he picks up weekly at the Chick-fil-A in Hollywood … now costs $20.” To most Americans, the idea of paying $16 for a fast-food meal already seems like highway robbery, let alone after tacking on a 25 percent increase. But now, as the Journal noted, the state that already had some of the highest fast-food prices in the country will have to suffer even more inflationary pain.
Governor’s Businesses Exempt
The minimum wage mandate began causing pain months before it went into effect. As I previously noted in The Federalist, establishments began laying off drivers just before Christmas in anticipation of higher wage costs, and businesses told customers they would have to raise prices to keep up.
