Posted on 11/11/2012 1:41:55 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
The CEO of a huge New York Applebees franchise decided to join fellow fast food CEO John Shattner of Papa John’s in saying that he will layoff workers and stop hiring new ones if the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is implemented. Applebees franchise owner Zane Tankel, announced his plans almost immediately after President Obama’s reelection.
The Twitterverse immediately went crazy with plans for boycotts.
One tweet read:
“So far I’ve seen Papa John’s and Applebees threatening to fire people since their choice didn’t win the election. Disgusting on either side.”
Others said:
“BOYCOTT APPLEBEES NOW.”
“Add @Applebees to the list of unpatriotic businesses who are firing people because Barack Obama won.”
Zanr Tankel announced his plans on Fox News. Tankel is CEO of Apple-Metro which owns 40 New York Area Applebees. Each restaurant employs between 80 and 300 people. Under the Affordable Care Act any employer with more than 50 employees has to offer a federally approved insurance plan to their employees or face a fine of $2,000.
Zane said on Fox:
“We’ve calculated it will [cost] some millions of dollars across our system. So what does that say — that says we won’t build more restaurants. We won’t hire more people. If you have 40 or 50 employees at a restaurant, and the penalty is $2,000, and you’re going to pay $80,000 or $100,000 penalty, there goes the profit in your restaurant. I want to simply say we are looking at it, we are evaluating. If it’s possible to do without cutting people back, I am delighted to do it, but that also rolls back expansion, it rolls back hiring more people, and in a best-case scenario, we only shrink the labor force minimally. Best case.”
Papa John’s CEO John Shattner told shareholders this week he was going to have to add eleven to fourteen cents per pie to the final cost to the consumer.
Shattner was subjected to a whipping on Twitter for his comments as well.
Schnatter defended his plan saying:
“That’s what you do, is you pass on the costs. Unfortunately, I don’t think people know what they’re going to pay for [Obamacare].”
Because Obamacare’s insurance mandates only apply to workers working more than 30 hours per week, chains like Red Lobster and the Olive Garden have said they will look into cutting worker’s hours also.
Papa John’s “The Works” is my favorite pizza ever.
Obviously you’ve never had a REAL pizza.
Yes, boycotts would inspire more layoffs but this is the electorate that we have. Needless-to-say, this is why pure democracy does not work and it is the reason this country was set up as a Democratic Republic.
JoMa
Well, my daughter tells me St. Louis has the best pizza but I’ve never been there.
No offense to you or your daughter here. I've been to St. Louis. What they call "pizza" we call several names I cannot repeat.
Unless you live in New York or Chicago, you really don't know what real good pizza is. (And frankly, since I live in the Chicago area and am heavily biased, I'd argue New Yorkers don't know what real pizza is either!)
Ok, I guess I can say one good thing about living in North East Illinois: the food here ROCKS.
Everything else about this God forsaken state completely sucks rocks, but the food is awesome.
I bet you hate grits, too!
Please, I'm beggin' ya...do it, cut your own people's throats!!!! BWa ha haa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha~!
Ten dollars for a Big Mac at McDs wouldn’t cause a boycott, would it?
Yeah, this should turn out well.
” (And frankly, since I live in the Chicago area and am heavily biased, I’d argue New Yorkers don’t know what real pizza is either!)”
I’ve never been to Chicago, so I can’t compare the pizzas between the two cities. But speaking as someone who was born and lived in new York city and because pizza has been one of my favorite foods, I gotta say....OH, YEAH???? :)
I’m sure applebees has a lot to lose from a boycott by the food stamp crowd.
There’s a lot of room in a lot of econ classes that these “boycott boneheads” need to fill.
Basic NY vs Chicago pizza “war” is thin crust ( NYC ) against thick crust ( Chicago ).
FIRE A LIBERAL TODAY!
I guess we are going to have to “Chick-Fil-A” Applebees
Lou Malnati's forever.
Oh it's on now! I've been to NYC plenty of times. It's a great city, really is. Every time I've been there I've enjoyed it. The food in NYC is nothing short of terrific, specially at some of the Deli's I've eaten at. I'm talking world-class sammich's. Pizza's a very personal thing though. It just so happens that I like pizza -- damn' near any pizza ('cept the "chain" pizza like Papa Johns, Pizza Hut, Domino's -- that's not pizza, that's crap!)
I even like pizza in NY. Y'all make a great thin crust. Honest, ya do. Thing is, I like thick crust and deep dish pizza better. The deeper and cheesier the better. :-) That's not something I've *ever* gotten in NYC.
BTW: the Original Ruth's Chris in NYC blows the one in Chicago away. Been to both, Prefer NYC.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.