Two fast food giants, McDonald's and Chipotle, are planning on hiking prices on their menus in California starting next year, according to CNBC. McDonald's has not decided on how big the raise will be; Chipotle, however, has indicated a pretty hefty adjustment. This comes on the heels of California Governor Gavin Newsom signing legislation that will raise the wages for fast food employees at major food chains up to $22 per hour. 

Chipotle expects it will raise prices by a “mid-to-high single-digit” percentage in the state, but has not made a “final decision,” its Chief Financial Officer Jack Hartung told analysts on the company’s conference call Thursday.

The National Owners Association, an independent advocacy group of more than 1,000 McDonald’s U.S. franchisees, projected the bill will cost each restaurant in the state $250,000 annually, according to a September memo viewed by CNBC. McDonald’s, which dealt with franchisee backlash for its role in the compromise’s negotiations, declined to comment at the time on the NOA’s estimates.

Because most of the McDonald's locations in California are franchisees, those owners are going to be eating all of that, which puts them in a precarious situation where they have to make the decision to hike their prices even further to offset their losses. In addition to this, when Newsom signed this legislation into law, the State now set the standard for who they consider is worth more, a fast food worker or an EMT; they chose the former. Newsom and his fellow Democrats in the state Assembly and Senate got in the business of discrimination when they decided who was more important. 

Whatever your thoughts about minimum wage are, it is a thing, it isn't going away, and the need to raise it to at least keep it concurrent with inflation and cost of living adjustments should happen. But that is not where my issue comes into play. Now the state is in the business of deciding what job is more important and what job should be paid more when that should only fall to the industries in question, which is highly discriminatory. When you decide to pay someone who flips burgers more than someone who requires a professional license to perform their jobs, for example, that is discriminatory by definition. 

Furthermore, anyone with a brain knows that elevating the minimum wages for these employees would set the stage for out-of-this-world prices for fast food. It's simple math really; when you have to pay your employees a lot more, you offset that cost by raising prices. This is not hard to understand for those who pay attention to these things. The worst part about all this was that Newsom and his Democratic allies could care less about this. I mean, if they really cared, they wouldn't have passed this law in the first place. 

Additionally, industry experts have already said that lower-income Americans have cut back significantly on their consumption of their products. Now this law, by raising the prices to an all-time high, will all but eliminate these establishments from lower-class consumption. Thus, it will create what many economic experts believe is the vicious cycle of hiking consumer prices after hiking the prices for the items being consumed. 

Many people believe, myself included, that raising the minimum wage for all or some employees translates into higher costs of living. Case in point, raising fast food wages translated directly into raising the prices of fast food products. Cause and effect. However, it will not stop at just menu price increases; no, it will continue with other areas like grocery stores and or gas stations. It's those trickle-down price increases that come with hiking minimum wages. 

How in the world do Democrats get away with this nonsense, it directly affects their voter base, of which a large percentage is made up from the lower class. In a state where we have the highest cost of living, taxes are through the roof, and an ever-growing majority of residents cannot afford to buy a home; this is what they decide to do to make it worse. 

Californians are being taxed to death; its residents pay the highest sales tax, the highest state income tax, and are the 4^th highest taxed overall in the nation. Which means we have less money to spend on daily needs. The burden is further compounded by the high cost of living, with California taking the 4^th highest cost of living position in the nation. Housing costs are particularly high, with the average home costing over $800,000. This has made it difficult for many families to afford to live in California and has led to residents leaving in search of more affordable living.

Californians also pay the most for basic necessities such as housing, food, and healthcare, compared to the rest of the nation. The high tax rates have made it more difficult for people to make ends meet and are driving businesses out of the state. Their tax policies are hurting Californians and are a major reason for California's failed state status.

The high taxes are not just limited to income tax. California also has the highest gas tax in the nation, which has a direct impact on the cost of living. It also makes it even more difficult for businesses to operate in the state. With rising fuel costs, businesses are forced to increase the price of their goods and services, which further increases the cost of living for Californians.

Gird your loins, Californians, it's going to get a lot worse here. Unless of course, Republicans and conservative Independents actually get off their lazy behinds and show up to vote. Too many people, specifically Republicans, decide to sit out when it comes time to vote. They sit back and watch it all burn around them, then hop onto social media and puff their chests and decry it all. Instead what they should be doing is closing their mouths. That's right, I said it, if you think this is bad and you didn't vote the last time or the past couple of times, you have lost your right to whine and complain about any of this. If this pisses you off, like it pisses me off, then get out there and vote, run for office, and get active. Otherwise, just sit down and mind your business while the adults try and save this place from destruction.

Editor's Note: This article was edited post-publication for clarity.