The economic dilettantes on the Los Angeles, California City Council applied their reverse Midas touch to the local hotel industry and the potential results are just about what you expected.

Newsmax’ Theodore Bunker had the original story back in May, "The council voted 12-3 in favor of a proposal to raise the city's Living Wages and Hotel Worker Minimum Wage ordinances on Wednesday, with the first planned increase to raise the wage to $22.50 an hour in July, then $25 an hour in 2026, $27.50 an hour in 2027, and finally $30 an hour in 2028, the year that the city is set to host the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games."

Left wing politicians love this type of law because it makes them look generous and compassionate by giving someone else’s money to people the politicians expect to vote for them in the future.

Think of it as a drone strike on the tourist’s wallet.

What never occurs to these economic illiterates is the downstream results of their economic meddling. Personally, we’ve tried our best to educate them, but it's mostly a fruitless task.

We wrote here about the statewide rejection or a referendum that would have raised California’s minimum wage to $18/hr.

Our view was, "We think it’s because California residents are finally grasping rudimentary economic concepts. Namely when a business encounters rising costs that can’t be avoided, the customers get to take up the slack through higher prices."

And here we covered the replacement of fast food workers with robots after ignorant politicians tinkered with those wages. Flippy the fast food robot can replace newly expensive human workers. And the advantages aren’t just in cost.

"Even better, Flippy never has translation confusion, daycare emergencies, car trouble, parent-teacher meetings and it will work a 24-hour sift without complaint. Plus, Flippy will never ask for an advance on a paycheck."

And the consumer isn’t off the hook either.

When wages go up due to political meddling, the price of the product goes up, too.

Here we explored just how much a burger might set back diners. "The real irony here is that after the latest wage hike and the resulting price increases, fast food workers still won’t be able to afford to eat at fast-food outlets. Even McDonalds admits, "Fewer Americans earning $45,000 or less have been frequenting McDonald’s locations this past quarter, according to the company."

And now the fickle finger of politics has zeroed in on hotel operators.

We admit it’s tough feeling sorry for an industry that years after the end of the corona panic-demic is still forcing hotel guests to endure every-other-day maid service.

Or worse, requiring guests to call the front desk and demand maid service, which otherwise the hotel will skip for the duration of their stay.

Even that though, is better than no hotel at all.

Rosanna Maietta, CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA), tried to explain, "Hotel employees in Los Angeles are paid the highest wages in the country, but right now their jobs are at risk."

Now only a few short weeks after passage of the bill the AHLA is really ramping up.

Fox News reports, "Hotels don’t just fuel tourism. They support local workers and their families. These new regulations will force so many of us to fight to keep our businesses alive, putting thousands of those jobs and our livelihoods in jeopardy," according to a news release from the AHLA.

It continued, "However, the compounded effects of lagging post-pandemic recovery, devastating wildfires, international travel declines, inflation, high interest rates, and many more issues outside of our control have pushed the city’s hospitality industry to the brink."

The chances — despite our best efforts — to convince the LA City Council to repeal the law are Zilch. That’s why the wise folks at AHLA decided to turn to the folks who defeated the statewide minimum wage vote: The voters.

"The projected downfall of the hotel industry in Los Angeles prompted the AHLA to launch a petition to block the wage hike.

"The petition, which has garnered more than 140,000 signatures, exceeds the 93,000 threshold to put the initiative on the state’s 2026 ballot.

"Voters will now be able to vote to repeal the ordinance next year."

Our confidence in the California electorate is growing bit by bit.

We’re optimistic they will repeal this latest economic outrage in 2026.

Now if they would only start repealing the politicians that vote for this idiocy. 

Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Mr. Reagan is an in-demand speaker with Premiere Speaker's Bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.

Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now With Added Humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.