Papa John's Founder Warns Obamacare Will Make You Pay About 14 Cents More For Your Artery Clogging, Sausage Pizza

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

As a New Yorker born and raised, I can't officially approve of national chain pizzas. But if you must order one, Papa John's is clearly the best. And the chain's CEO, John Schnatter, is not only raising money for Mitt Romney, he's warning that Obamacare will cause your pizza-eating experience to suffer:

Stipulating for a moment that this is true, doesn't it seem like a rather small price to pay? Papa John's website is currently offering to deliver me a large pepperoni pizza for $14.08 and Schnatter is warning me that the problem with Obamacare is ... a one-time price increase of less than 1 percent! That seems eminently reasonable. What's more, it's well within the range of the kind of price swings Papa John's is going to have to expect just based on the vagaries of the weather, which impacts the price of ingredients, and the ups and downs of the oil market. There's just nothing there. I can believe that the Obamacare provision requiring prominent calorie labeling on menus would hurt Papa John's by encouraging people to order smaller pizzas or fewer toppings, but the idea that they're getting hammered by a one-time 14 cent per-pie increase in labor costs is silly. Now Schnatter personally stands to lose money as a result of the progressive tax increases that will help pay for the law. He's probably mad about that, but he shouldn't attribute his personal problems to his business.

So what he's saying here is that consumers of his product will now have to bear the cost of health insurance for those that produce and deliver his product. That's a hell of a lot better than having to pay for the health care for the same producers whether you chose to consume his product or not which is a fair description of the status quo. Don't want to pay for Papa John's employees health care? Don't order Papa John's pizza.

When you buy a car, you pay for the health insurance of the people that made your car. When buying an appliance, you pay for the health insurance of the people that made said appliance. When you open and maintain a bank or brokerage account, you pay for the health insurance of the people that are involved in serving your account. And so on, and so forth. What is so terrible about the idea that you pay for the true cost of a product rather than rolling part of that cost off to people that don't consume it? The latter is socialism. I thought we don't like socialism?

[rocks 494]

So what he's saying here is that consumers of his product will now have to bear the cost of health insurance for those that produce and deliver his product. That's a hell of a lot better than having to pay for the health care for the same producers whether you chose to consume his product or not which is a fair description of the status quo. Don't want to pay for Papa John's employees health care? Don't order Papa John's pizza.

When you buy a car, you pay for the health insurance of the people that made your car. When buying an appliance, you pay for the health insurance of the people that made said appliance. When you open and maintain a bank or brokerage account, you pay for the health insurance of the people that are involved in serving your account. And so on, and so forth. What is so terrible about the idea that you pay for the true cost of a product rather than rolling part of that cost off to people that don't consume it? The latter is socialism. I thought we don't like socialism?

How many employees does he have that are entitled to health insurance? Surely it's just the managers who would have got benefits, regardless of "Obamacare"?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

How many employees does he have that are entitled to health insurance? Surely it's just the managers who would have got benefits, regardless of "Obamacare"?

I don't care if it's all of them. Fact is that we have decided on a private health insurance system where employers offer plans and cover a portion of the premium. We can debate all day long whether this is a good or bad system. But if that's the system we have settled on - and that it is - then there's no reason that some employers try to gain a cost advantage by stiffing their employees out of this benefit. What happens with these stiffed employees is that you and I and everyone else ends up picking up the cost of their health care. Why should I have to pick that up?

[rocks 494]

I don't care if it's all of them. Fact is that we have decided on a private health insurance system where employers offer plans and cover a portion of the premium. We can debate all day long whether this is a good or bad system. But if that's the system we have settled on - and that it is - then there's no reason that some employers try to gain a cost advantage by stiffing their employees out of this benefit. What happens with these stiffed employees is that you and I and everyone else ends up picking up the cost of their health care. Why should I have to pick that up?

You shouldn't. As I stated previously, this is propaganda to justify a price increase. All this does is increase their profits. Regular people who make pizza never got health insurance before, so why would that change now? It wouldn't. It's all a facade to give the 14 cents to Romney. It's sad that he doesn't think this is blatant.

[james&olya 1,121]

So what he's saying here is that consumers of his product will now have to bear the cost of health insurance for those that produce and deliver his product. That's a hell of a lot better than having to pay for the health care for the same producers whether you chose to consume his product or not which is a fair description of the status quo. Don't want to pay for Papa John's employees health care? Don't order Papa John's pizza.

When you buy a car, you pay for the health insurance of the people that made your car. When buying an appliance, you pay for the health insurance of the people that made said appliance. When you open and maintain a bank or brokerage account, you pay for the health insurance of the people that are involved in serving your account. And so on, and so forth. What is so terrible about the idea that you pay for the true cost of a product rather than rolling part of that cost off to people that don't consume it? The latter is socialism. I thought we don't like socialism?

Excellent!

It makes you wonder if there might be a more sinister motive for some on the right that are so opposed to seeing everyone have access to decent health care. Do they want to see the working poor punished for their poverty by not having health care? By the way, where is the GOP plan that would replace Obama-care?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Excellent!

It makes you wonder if there might be a more sinister motive for some on the right that are so opposed to seeing everyone have access to decent health care. Do they want to see the working poor punished for their poverty by not having health care? By the way, where is the GOP plan that would replace Obama-care?

There it is. See? Less than 2700 pages.

[Karee 4,189]

There it is. See? Less than 2700 pages.

Hmm. An open bed in a hallway is what I see. A pretty common appearance in any hospital. Steven works in a hospital. I bet he sees this on a daily basis. I love the shock factor though.

Edited August 11, 2012 by Karee

[Darnell 8,478]

Let's keep these forums nice!

Though... I still want to know wwhat FDTW means.

it is the past tense of 'FTW' , a 3 letter acronymn ...

F'dTW ...

so, when something really got f'd, that's a bad thing.

Since it's past tense, that means it happened yesterday, or some time in the past.

I could spell out the acronym, but I'd prefer not to. Many 19 year olds know what this means, though.

For me, specifically, it is a play on words.

FTW is usually a good thing, meaning something 'nice'.

I take the literal meaning, though, and it's not something nice at all.

Have a great week !

[elmcitymaven 9,711]

I never knew a preposition could have a past tense.

[Darnell 8,478]

F as a preposition? Sorry, I learned it as a verb and a noun and an expletive.

[^_^ 5,021]

F as a preposition? Sorry, I learned it as a verb and a noun and an expletive.

You don't know what FTW stands for.

That's a statement, not a question.

[elmcitymaven 9,711]

You don't know what FTW stands for.

That's a statement, not a question.

In "FTW," the "F" is a preposition.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

As a New Yorker born and raised,

So you are not native to California, or Arizona. Interesting to know. Are you and Matthew Yglesias tight?

Edited August 13, 2012 by The Patriot

[^_^ 5,021]

In "FTW," the "F" is a preposition.

He does not know what FTW stands for.

That isn't speculation.

[elmcitymaven 9,711]

He does not know what FTW stands for.

That isn't speculation.

It's possible he does, and is trolling us all for reasons unknown. However, I tend to agree with you.