Less Bong for Their Bucks

McDonalds Price Increases Anger the Homeless

Homeless people who hang out at the nearby Golden Gate Park used to get 99-cent burgers at the McDonald's located at Haight and Stanyan streets in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood.

But the eatery got rid of its Dollar Menu about a month ago. That move, which McDonald's called a simple business decision, means items on the menu are now too expensive for the people who spend much of their day hanging out on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant.

Items on the Dollar Menu now cost around $1.50.

"I eat less. I have to get more money," said 29-year-old Nicholas Newhart to The San Francisco Chronicle . He was not happy with the price increase and said, "If I don't have a dollar and I want food, I just end up going to a trash can."

Food prices have increased and will continue to increase across the board. Everyone is paying more to eat the same food than they were even a couple of years ago. Obviously this affects the "homeless" more than working citizens, but to make it out like McDonald's is vying for a cull of the indigent population is patently absurd. Yet that is the tone of this article. I guess the street people of San Francisco will have to cut back on their alcohol and marijuana and hard drugs if they want to be able to afford enough Big Macs to keep them as fat as they currently are.