Posted on 08/17/2009 2:44:02 PM PDT by reaganaut1
Of all the sideshows to the Great 2009 Health Care Debate, the Whole Foods boycott may take the prize as the most unexpected.
Last Wednesday, John Mackey, the chief executive of Whole Foods, took to the pages of The Wall Street Journal to opine that we clearly need health care reform, but arguing against the solutions being put forward by the administration: The last thing our country needs is a massive new health care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health care system.
Mackey went on to offer eight ideas for reforms, including these four:
Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs).
Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines.
Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
Revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and arent covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Childrens Health Insurance Program.
Reaction from pro-reform Whole Foods shoppers was swift and vociferous. As Brian Beutler noted the next day at TPM DC, Whole Foods Web site has been fielding angry comments all afternoon, and has had to set up an online forum where customers can vent their frustrations, and, oh, call for a boycott!
Heres a thought, added Beutler. If you own a major supermarket chain that caters to a great deal of liberal-minded people with money, dont rail against the evils of health care reform in The Wall Street Journal.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com ...
I shopped at Whole Foods today for the first time in ages.
Give this guy some support for having the courage to talk common sense. No wonder his company makes money.
More proof this issue has nothing to do with “lowering the cost of health care”. How can anyone who shops at Whole Foods complain about the cost of ANYTHING?
I would like to support the guy, but a store that charges $13 for a lb of sliced turkey should be avoided. Its not called Whole Check for nothing.
Here’s a thought, Buttler. Cram it down your pie-hole.
When the Dixie Chicks bit the hand that fed them, the NYT was all up in arms about conservative country fans being too hard on them. That they had a right to speak their minds without fear or alienating their fans.
Turn the situation around and they tell the conservative he should shut up rather than alienate his customers.
Notice they didn’t take time to discuss his ideas. Do they have merit?
Unreal. Mackey wasn’t partisan, strident or in any way unfair or bombastic. He offered a reasonable, rational alternative to the ridiculous Democratic healthcare plan. This shows how Stalinist and intolerant the Democratic party has become. They can’t even deal with substantive opposition even as they dishonestly claim their only problem is with the boisterous townhall protesters, not with intelligent and considered opposition. These boycott threats put the lie to that claim.
Oh, and I’ll be INCREASING my business at Whole Foods.
I have done the majority of our grocery shopping at Whole Foods for 20 years.
Great products
Great service
All of the times that I've shopped at Whole Paycheck(tm) recently, I was using OPM to purchase meal preps for parties that I cooked for.
It's not so bad shopping there when it's someone else's (customer's) plastic that gets the charge. ;)
/johnny
/johnny
Yeah, but the cheese, selection and produce are something, I must say. They have aged steaks, which is almost unheard of anymore. Celery tastes like celery. Even for this codger, it’s...
Now I am hungry. Just the thought of those tarts. (as in real bakery tarts....)
Great products
Great service
Same here. Just got back in fact.
Aw, I was expecting a story about people slinging organic produce at each other.
Im going too, and telling them why!
It’s because liberals only think in slogans, chants and sound bites. They can’t handle anything more in-depth.
... and catch-phrases. Forgot the catchphrases.
I call it “Whole Paychecks” since it’s so expensive. But I’ll be shopping there once in while just to give them my support.
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