Alex Pareene, Salon: "Republican CEO: Repeal Obamacare or pay an extra quarter for bad pizza"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Papa John’s pizza extortion
Football-tossing Republican CEO: Repeal Obamacare or pay an extra quarter for bad pizza
By Alex Pareene



http://www.salon.com/2012/08/08/papa_john_if_you_force_me_to_provide_employees_with_affordable_healthcare_i_will_raise_the_price_of_my_gross_pizza/

Sad news this week for all American Papa John’s fans, from those too exhausted by daily drudging for subsistence wages to attempt to find something better to stick in their mouths at the end of the day than a dirt-cheap sugar and starch-delivery mechanism to those who are simply drunk when one of the commercials comes on: Unless we repeal Obamacare, Papa John’s founder and mascot John “Papa John” Schnatter is going to raise the price of his wares.

He said as much in a conference call last week: “Our best estimate is that the Obamacare will cost 11 to 14 cents per pizza, or 15 to 20 cents per order from a corporate basis,” Schnatter said, while robotically tossing a football and sort of cringing in an odd approximation of a casual smile.

Eventually, once the law is actually in place. Papa John’s franchises with 50 or more full-time employees will be expected to offer affordable plans for their employees, or face a penalty. The point of this policy is to keep large employers from outsourcing the cost of insuring their full-time employees to taxpayers. The point is also to raise the price of pizza, in order to “bend the cost curve.” (If Papa John doesn’t like this he and his restaurant industry friends should probably lobby for single-payer, in order to break the employer-provided healthcare model that doesn’t work for the sort of people unlucky enough to have to work for a squinty miser like John Schnatter.)

[DearAbby]

1. hey a quarter to help someone have healthcare

isn't so high to me, deal. But how pathetic you must be to value that quarter more than your fellow human being.

[JaneQPublic]

2. They're using AHA as an excuse for already planned price hikes.

My employer is already blaming Obama in general and Obamacare in particular for (a) caps on raises; (b) increases in payroll deductions for the health plan; and (c) expected loss in business (which it turns out he actually kept).

Expect businesses all over the country to be using Obama as the boogeyman blamed for every measure that screws over the employees and/or customers while, oddly enough, benefitting the employer.

[freethought]

3. How many of these franchises

have 50 or more full-time employees? None to damned few I'm willing to bet.

[exboyfil]

4. Little Caesar's just raised its

Cheese Pizza from $5.00 to $5.55. Unlike gasoline you can always walk away from a price increase for pizzas. The demand should be very elastic.

[angel123]

5. price increase

how about, i don,'t buy your nasty ass pizza!

[ashling]

6. single payer

(If Papa John doesn’t like this he and his restaurant industry friends should probably lobby for single-payer, in order to break the employer-provided healthcare model that doesn’t work for the sort of people unlucky enough to have to work for a squinty miser like John Schnatter.)

Single Payer would be the best thing that could happen for business large or small.