Along with rising sales taxes, and meat prices, a minimum wage hike to $10 an hour two months ago made it expensive to stay open. So he's cut back from five to two days a week for lunch. His hamburgers are smaller, his entrees pricier and his customers scarcer.
Hawatmeh believes it's not the government, but a combination of worker determination and customer demand that should set the correct wage.
"That's how I built myself," he said. "That's how I'm teaching my children to build themselves. Don't ask what do I get, ask what can I do."
And Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens agrees. Next month, the minimum wage will return to $7.70 an hour -- ten bucks an hour was a mistake, he says.
"Despite what you hear from liberals, it will take money out of people's pockets," Greitens said.
CBS wrote: Along with rising
CBS
That last quote just sums up capitalist ideology.
His hamburgers are smaller,
His hamburgers are smaller, his entrees pricier, his customers scarcer -- but his bank account is fatter than ever!
Quote: his bank account is
And apparently, none of that money came out of people's pockets!