
California’s $20 Fast Food Increase Law an Utter Failure
Welcome to Equal Opportunity Times #98. There’s been some discussion about what I should do when I reach my 100th edition of the Equal Opportunity Times. I haven’t reached any decision yet and am open to any thoughts you, my dear readers, might have. Here are some of the suggestions put forth so far:
- Compile them into a sequel to the Erasing America book
- Just ignore it and keep on writing
- Take a cruise to Indiana
- Get a haircut and shave off your beard
- Take a writing class
- Stop writing – you made your point
So if you have any suggestions, I am happy to entertain them. Simply email me at EOCritic@ProtonMail.com and tell me what’s on your mind.
California’s $20 Fast Food Increase Law an Utter Failure
California Assembly Bill 1228 was a clusterf**k from the get-go. The law mandated a $20 per hour minimum wage for fast food workers and the creation of the Fast-Food Council.
Surprisingly, Woke University of California at Berkeley released a study confirming what non- Democrats suspected. Well, those with a brain stem told the politicians that this would result in increased menu prices AND thousands of lost jobs. Guess what? A Berkeley Research Group study released on February 18, 2025, just confirmed it. After passage of the law, between June 2023 and June 2024, 10,700 fast food jobs were lost, and menu prices soared 14.5%.
According to the California Globe, the study debunked the idea that the new law created jobs. Automation increased dramatically as restaurant owners utilized mechanization and AI to replace costly employees. A Bureau of Labor Statistics study found that 89% of affected fast food establishments cut employee hours in the first three to four months of the new $20 minimum wage. It’s reported that over 1,000 California fast food restaurants closed after the law took effect.
What’s incredible is that the left-wing politicians in California refuse to see or understand the law of unintended consequences. They refuse to understand that business owners vote with their wallets and choose instead to move their operations to a more business-friendly state such as Nevada, Texas, or Florida.
Politicians never have to meet Friday payrolls, pour over P&L statements, or spend time requesting loans from bank loan officers to keep their operations afloat. They know of none of this and yet voted to increase expenses for business owners while not offering them anything in return. Were the fast-food employees directed to be 20% more efficient, effective, or knowledgeable? No, of course not. They simply got more money for doing the same thing they did before.
Sometimes You Just Gotta Laugh
So why would I do it? I hadn’t done it in probably fifteen years, but there I was, curious about what I was missing. I typed in the website address carefully—Onion.com—and what was staring me in the face? It was an article detailing how our new Secretary of Defense had sent 3,000 US troops not to the Southern border but on a beer run! I just stopped and laughed like jolly ol’ Saint Nick. So if you want a giggle now and then, check out this website and remember that not a word is true, probably…
President Trump’s Speech to a Joint Session of Congress
Wow! As political theater goes, I’ve never seen better. Trump was at the top of his game in his speech to a joint session of Congress, even as Democrats sat stone-faced, lifting paddles with messages that MUSK STEALS, nary a word whispered among them. Some were dressed in pink to draw attention to the fact that they hate everything the President stands for, including reducing illegal immigration, lowering inflation, unleashing America’s energy, and rooting out federal fraud, abuse, and theft.
Even during moments when family survivors of murdering illegals were recognized or a spotlight was shone on a young boy with brain cancer, the Democrats sat there, not a one supporting the President. When a child was presented with his own Secret Service badge, there was not a show of support anywhere on the Democratic left. It’s as if the Democrats have lost all their humanity in a show of solidarity—a message that they despise everything Republicans stand for. Even the talk of balancing the budget—no visible reaction whatsoever because all their wasteful spending on special interests and NGOs would grind to a halt.
While the political theater was top-notch, I was deeply embarrassed as an American at the lack of humanity of all the Democrats seated in the chamber. My guess is that Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer instructed them to never show support or they would lose their committee assignments
If Only This Were True!
Banning butter knives? If liberal progressives had their way, this staple of the family dinner table would go the way of the telephone booth and the typewriter. It seems they are all up in arms over the unsharpened accoutrement that butters our bread at dinnertime.
Apparently, a few Squad members learned of an attack at a holiday festival in São Tomé, a small African island nation that sits atop the equator. The nation has a population about half that of Wyoming. In the 1900s, it was best known as an exporter of cocoa and dubbed the Chocolate Nation. Apparently, it has fallen on hard times as global trade took a sharp turn and left the nation in the weeds.
That doesn’t sit too well with the ruling clan who took to attacking relatives with butter knives at a recent religious gathering. Word is that four men were severely buttered-’n’-battered and the island is considering a ban on all butter knives. How the Squad learned of this fiasco is beyond me. Must have been written up in the New York Post!
Yes, that was a little fun fiction…
Biden’s Department of the Interior Found Itself in a Pickle
First, let me say that I am truly impressed by President Trump’s choice for Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, former Governor of North Dakota. He will spearhead the administration’s goal of unleashing America’s energy and natural resources. He will be unlike Biden’s Secretary of the Interior who greenlit the development and construction of 5+ acres of Las Vegas land for thirty brand new pickleball courts that the local community opposed.
What We Worry About
As we all know, the super-rich are not like us mortals. Those with billions to spare have different worries than you and I, although there are a few commonalities sprinkled about. Most on the minds of the billionaire class is anything that will dent their wallets such as high inflation, higher taxes, war, recession, and stock market crashes. Truth be told, some of those are on my nightmare list as well. But more normal folks—you know, those without eight-figure net worths—get pissed off about other stuff such as Denny’s egg surcharges, Starbucks changing their coffee cup design at Christmas, the Ford F-150 massive recall, the closing of Big Lots stores, and most of all, our local malls going out of business.
And speaking about worry…
The Biden gang oversaw four years of American destruction, including massive hits to our economy. Organized theft skyrocketed because of lax laws and police department downsizing. The National Retail Federation estimated inventory loss among retailers at approximately $112 billion for 2023. As a result of increasing crime and inflation, common retail names are downsizing left and right since they can no longer remain profitable. Here is a sampling of the downsizing I have read about:
- Foot Locker will downsize by 400 stores
- Family Dollar Store will close over 650 locations
- Party City closed forever
- Big Lots closed 400 stores
- CVS closed over 575 underperforming stores
- Walgreens closed 500 underperforming stores
- American Freight closed all 328 stores
What Will It Take for Small Businesses to Get Back on Their Feet?
America’s small businesses ain’t that small, not by a long shot. Official government figures indicate that there are over 34 million small businesses that employ some 60 million people. These are companies that employ less than 500 workers—a far cry from Apple’s 164,000 employee headcount. And how have these businesses been treated during the Biden years? In a word, horribly. The reasons are many, including a massive hike in prices (inflation), skyrocketing crime, and overregulation bordering on a death grip.
Yet there is a ray of sunshine peeking through the Hurricane Biden catastrophe. No, it’s not a business version of a competent FEMA. It happens to be optimism spurred by a new President, the promise of deregulation, lower inflation, and cheaper energy prices. If small businesses drive the US economy, low energy prices fuel small business expansion. Consider that 72% of US products are delivered by truck, and it doesn’t take a genius to do the math. Lower energy prices may translate to lower prices of goods on the store shelves. And so it’s not lost on you. The overregulation has been especially painful for small businesses since they are least able to afford armies of lawyers, accountants, and consultants like Johnson & Johnson and Microsoft can.
Proving a business is in compliance with scores of regulations can bankrupt a business quickly— a hell of an outcome that Democrats seem to not care about.
I Surprise Easily Now That I’m Officially Old
There I was, minding my own business when I spied the following Fox News headline:
Agriculture Secretary Cancels $600K Grant
for Study on Menstrual Cycles in Transgender Men
My first reaction—“huh?” My second—isn’t the Agriculture Department in charge of farming, crops, and soil? And eventually, I got around to the rest of this insane headline and thought to myself, thank God adults are once again in charge of the government.
It looks like the Biden Administration (who else) threw $600,000 to Southern University Agriculture and Mechanical College for this study. I guess they figured if a truly gifted Dr. Shwartzman at some downtown medical university can turn a man into a woman with scalpels, an artificial uterus, and drugs, why shouldn’t they have periods too?
An Alligator Ain’t a Fish
Would a reasonable person consider a poodle part of the T-Rex family? How about similarities between a salmon and a wasp? Then why on earth would a New Orleans Archbishop consider alligators to be part of the fish family? No, folks, I ain’t making this up!
A March 14, 2025, article published by Fox News told readers that an Archbishop in New Orleans told a questioning parishioner that alligator meat is okay to eat on Fridays during Lent because alligators are part of the fish family. Not so fast, Bishop. It’s true that meat is considered to be cows, pigs, sheep, and chickens. And yes, birds are considered meat even though they have wings. But alligators are seafood? Even if this loophole dates back hundreds of years, I still think it creates an end-run around good ol’ fashioned common sense.
P.S. Enjoy your gator sandwich…
Would a Reasonable Person Consider This Hypocritical?
Per testimony from Ms. Elaine Kamarck, the director of President Bill Clinton’s reinventing initiative, an estimated 377,000 federal employees were eliminated between January 1993 and September 2000. President Clinton announced the formation of the National Performance
Review, led by Vice President Al Gore. Its goal, according to President Clinton’s announcement, was “…to make the entire federal government both less expensive and more efficient, and to change the culture of our national bureaucracy away from complacency and entitlement toward initiative and empowerment.”
Yet in the first two months of Donald Trump’s Presidency, the firing of 30,000 federal workers has caused Democrats to go berserk. The takeaway is that it’s okay to fire government workers if you’re a Democrat, but it’s treasonous to do it if you are a Republican.
Teaching Others How to Shovel Shit
Yes, it’s true. The Biden Administration in its off-the-wall wisdom of wasting taxpayer funds sent $20 million overseas to teach farmers best practices for using manure and fertilizer to optimize crop growth. Vietnam, Brazil, Pakistan, and Columbia were most likely very grateful for the imported dollars to support farm/manure research because obviously, they have no money to research it themselves.
When Idiots Are Allowed to Roam Free
Yes, I broke my own rule. I scanned the dreaded New York Post and came across yet another reason why this media company should be padlocked, shuttered, and erased from history. So what led me to this conclusion? The headline screamed.
Plus-Sized Influencer Demands McLaren Sports Cars
Increase Seat Size to Accommodate Her Booty: ‘Should Be for Everyone’
Evidently, this 225-pound, 27-year-old, plus-sized Panamanian-born influencer is of the opinion that the world does indeed revolve around her and must submit to and adhere to her childish and off-the-wall demands. Perhaps this lady should go on a diet and get her oversized rump to the gym or shop for a Hummer that can accommodate her 56-inch caboose. And for what it’s worth, I don’t feel influenced, not one bit.
An Unfortunate Spectacle
By now we all know that Congressman Al Green (D-TX) was ejected from President Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress in March. Green’s behavior was deplorable, disrespectful, and childlike. As I read about the incident in online media, I noted that when a member of Congress is censured, it is largely symbolic, akin to a slap on the wrist in front of the whole class—in other words, a public shaming and humiliation.
In the days that followed, the Congressman was indeed censured—big deal. Well, I have a proposal for Congress to consider, one that has its roots in professional hockey and basketball. I propose that when a member is censured, they lose the following privileges:
- Not permitted to attend sessions of Congress for 30 days
- Not permitted to submit new legislative bills for 30 days
- Not permitted to vote on legislation for 30 days
Oh, and one more thing, they should be fined $25,0000 for their errant behavior. If fines are good enough for the NHL, NBA, and NFL, they’re good enough for our elected politicians.
Biden Threw Money at Paraguay’s Border – NOT Our Own
It seems that landlocked Paraguay was on the receiving end of US taxpayers’ money in the amount of $2.1 million for improvements to its border security. Since Paraguay is surrounded by Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia, I’m certain those millions would have been better spent fortifying border walls in Texas, Arizona, or California.
A Mockery of Common Sense
Imagine, if you will, the Defense Department inking a contract with a Mexican-cartel-owned fabrication business located near Seattle. Imagine further that this imaginary company is in the business of making bullet-proof vests for law enforcement organizations. Now, let’s further assume that it appears there is an issue with quality control, and it seems that a whole bunch of vests destined for SWAT teams in major US cities are defective and will not protect the wearers against most gunfire. Farfetched? Anyone with a pound of common sense would immediately ask the following questions:
- How could a Mexican cartel own a business in the US?
- How on earth could this business get a contract for armoring the police?
- Was there any due diligence performed on the business before signing the contract?
- How is there no quality control?
- Which idiots should we put in prison for this fiasco?
We’ve all heard the line that truth is often stranger than fiction. With that in mind, fasten your seatbelts, place your tray in the upright position, and get ready for takeoff. This is where reality is dumber than riding in a convertible during a Nebraska hailstorm.
As reported by Newsweek reporter Ellie Cook, faulty armor plates were delivered to the Pentagon by a Russian-owned company in Portland, Oregon. The armor plating, used in combat vehicles by the U.S. Army and allied militaries were fabricated by Evraz North America. Newsweek reported that almost 13,000 armor plates either skipped important inspections or had inspections falsely labeled as inspected and approved. Local Portland media reported that the FBI visited the facility in mid- 2024.
My take: Do we ask North Korea to produce artillery shells for us? Do we ask China to manufacture our ICBMs? Do we ask Iran to produce our intercontinental bombers? Then why the hell do we have a Russian company on US soil manufacturing steel-plated armor for the U.S. Army? Whoever the idiot is at the Pentagon who greenlit this clusterfuck needs to be fired and jailed.
Bits ’n’ Pieces
In case nobody noticed, 30-year mortgage rates have been falling ever since Joe Biden left the White House, and obviously, mainstream media has said nothing about this.
Word has it that a Bernie Sanders fundraiser had a special performance by a trans singer. Why does nothing surprise me anymore? Next, I suppose ol’ Bernie will come out as a non-binary socialist politician.
Just a hunch, but I guess that President Xi of China and President Putin of Russia were praying mighty hard that Kamala Harris would win the presidency so they could continue walking all over America. I’m thinking that they might be displeased that they have to deal with Donald Trump again.
Hijacking all the oxygen in the room appears to be the new phrase when describing a blowhard who won’t shut up and loves to hear themselves talk. Just sayin’…
“The written word speaks.”
—Rodger Friedman
“Arrest him and deport him or, at the very least, tax him until his eyeballs bleed.”
—Charles Pierce, Esquire Magazine, regaling us on the evil Elon Musk
See ya soon…
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