Joe messed up, he just had his “deplorable” moment and the White House is clueless on what to do next.
The restaurant industry has really taken a hit over the last year and a half. Inflation, supply chain problems, Biden’s more than generous unemployment benefits, and COVID restrictions are force business to close.
Despite unemployment rising to 419,000 last week, restaurant owners are struggling to find workers because of inflated unemployment benefits. The states with the highest unemployment benefits are California, Connecticut, DC, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico and New York, which are all blue states.
During a town hall in Cincinnati, Ohio Biden was asked by restaurant owner John Lanni what his plan was to end staff shortages. Biden told him to increase wages and that he couldn’t find work because people were finding “different opportunities.”
Joe Biden tells a small business owner that his industry is “really going to be in a bind for a little while,” and goes on to say that if he wants to hire workers, he’ll just have to pay a $15/hr minimum wage: pic.twitter.com/d2uoDsLaVo
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 22, 2021
Here’s what Biden didn’t know, Lanni pays his staff $15 an hour.
Biden also chided Lanni insinuating he should be grateful.
“If you notice, we kept you open,” Biden said in response to Lanni.
That isn’t sitting well with small business owners.
It’s interesting that Joe would tell a small business owner to raise wages but is silent over his buddy Jeff Bezos running his Amazon employees into the ground.
Congresswoman Lauren Boebert who still owns a restaurant said Biden sounded “exactly like someone who has been on the government payroll their whole life & never even run a lemonade stand.”
Restaurant manager at the Famous Cozy Soup ‘N’ Burger in Manhattan, John Stratidis said if he’s follows Biden’s advice it would punish consumers and stop people from eating out.
“When minimum wage goes up, who do you think is going to pay for that? The customer,” said Stratidis. “Everything is going to go up just to be able to stay in business. When we give more money, the prices go up and when the prices go up who’s going to pay for that?”
“They’re going to be crying about it, and saying ‘it’s too expensive.’ That’s inflation. You’re going to be walking in somewhere to eat something and paying $40 or $50 for a hamburger.”
“We need to get back to reality. A lot of people are in this bubble… the longer we stay closed, the bigger this becomes. We’re already in trouble,” he added.
“Everyone is chilling right now, collecting $1,200 in unemployment benefits. What happens when those stop in September? When unemployment stops, poverty starts. If there are no restaurants, where are you going to work?”
“If Joe wants to help out the restaurant industry he must replenish the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and cut unemployment benefits now,” he concluded.
Joe let his elitism show and the White House is clueless because everyone there are elitists as well. Once again the ruling class is screwing the little guy.
The is disgusting. In the last year, the biggest transfer of wealth in recent history happened from small businesses to large corporations. Also, want higher wages for AMERICAN workers? Pass an immigration moratorium. https://t.co/wgCqdix9wN
— Tim Swain (@SwainForSenate) July 22, 2021
“Last night, Mr. Lanni expressed the same fear and frustration being felt by operators across the country. Restaurants aren’t like other small businesses; they run on very tight margins, so any change in operating costs jeopardizes their stability,” Sean Kennedy, Executive Vice President of Public Affairs, National Restaurant Association said.
This was Joe’s “deplorable” moment.
