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abumbyanyothername Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:07 PM
Original message
Whole Foods Responds ..
:puke:

To our customers,

As you are aware, John Mackey wrote an Op/Ed piece that was published in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week on health care reform, one of the biggest and most emotional issues facing our country. John’s intent was to express his personal opinions — not those of Whole Food Market team members or our company as a whole. Still, it’s very clear that John’s piece offended some of our customers, other members of the communities we serve and some of our team members as well.

We offer you our sincere apology.

We’d like to clarify a few things that have been misinterpreted:

John’s Op/Ed piece was written in favor of health care reform.
In response to President Obama’s invitation to all Americans to put forward constructive ideas for reforming our health care system, John was asked to write an Op/Ed piece and he gave his personal opinion. John titled the piece “Health Care Reform,” but an editor at the Journal rewrote the headline to call it “Whole Foods Alternative to Obamacare,” which led to antagonistic feelings by many. That was not John’s intention – in fact, John does not mention the President at all in his piece. John has posted the unedited piece to his blog where people can read it as it was intended.

Whole Foods Market has no official position on the issue.
That said, we have attempted to be part of the solution in health care reform for many years by providing innovative health care options to our team members. We believe that our high deductible medical insurance plan coupled with a company-funded HSA is an excellent way to empower team members to make their own health care choices.

John wanted to share our experience with others through his Op/Ed piece.
He believes that the specific ideas he put forward would improve access and cost of health care for more people. Because our plan has held down overall costs (relative to other plans), Whole Foods Market has been able to pay 100 percent of the premiums for our full-time team members — about 89% of our workforce. (Part-timers are eligible for the insurance plan too and pay the premium themselves.) Our team members vote on our plan every three years to make sure they continue to have a voice in our benefits.

Whole Foods Market has a 30-year track record of caring about our customers, team members and communities. From local loan programs to salary caps, from donations to non-profits to funding the Whole Planet Foundation, our innovative programs are created and designed by team members who care about their fellow citizens.

We all know there are many opinions on the health care debate, including inside our own company. As we, as a nation, continue to sort through this together, we are hopeful that both sides can do so in a civil manner that will lead to positive change for all concerned, and we thank you for sharing your opinions with us.

Kind regards,

Customer Communications Team
Whole Foods Market World Headquarters
550 Bowie Street
Austin, Texas 78703
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Canuckistanian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:13 PM
Response to Original message
1. "Whole Foods Market has no official position on the issue."
Edited on Fri Aug-14-09 06:38 PM by Canuckistanian
Uh, when your CEO writes an Op-Ed in a major national newspaper, that's an official position.

In fact, I can't think of anything MORE "official".
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DevonRex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:15 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. Yep. The CEO spoke. That's the official position.
No use in trying to weasel out of it now.
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paulsby Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:08 PM
Response to Reply #2
33. false
a CEO can speak for himself or his company.

CEOs don't lose the ability to express personal opinions apart from their business policy.

*if* he qualified during his editorial that this was his PERSONAL opinion, NOT necessarily the stance of whole foods.

i don't shop whole foods anyway. i've been there 3 times in my life. too expensive for my taste. and way too much organic stuff, which is overpriced at normal stores, and ridiculous at whole foods.

i do most of my shopping for produce at a local farmers market and at a store in federal way that caters to ukrainians and mexicans and has bitchen produce and meat
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abumbyanyothername Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:18 PM
Response to Reply #33
39. I choose not to support Macky
Supporting his company is disproportionately supporting him.
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paulsby Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:21 PM
Response to Reply #39
41. that much is true
i have no problem with that.

i have problem with people conflating his personal opinion with the stance of the company. a CEO is not a god, and his personal opinion is not necesarily the stance of the business. that's all i said. it is true. profits for whole food will benefit mackey (amongst others). i don't shop there purely for non-political reasons, as i said.

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aquart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 05:06 PM
Response to Reply #41
167. A CEO is not a god??? What country are you living in?
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paulsby Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Aug-16-09 05:00 AM
Response to Reply #167
179. usa man!
land of the free, etc.
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hlthe2b Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:32 PM
Response to Reply #33
44. Bullshit... He identified himself as the CEO of WF
Edited on Fri Aug-14-09 07:37 PM by hlthe2b
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paulsby Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:42 PM
Response to Reply #44
49. so what?
if he said he was not speaking AS the CEO, then i take that for what it;s worth.

i once wrote an editorial where i identified myself as a Police officer and the agency in which i worked. it was an article about certain law enforcement policies in my former state. i moved to my current agency/state and was editorializing about how i thought the policies i saw here were more proactive and more respective towards police. i was NOT speaking FOR the police dept. i was speaking for myself. the fact that i identified myself as a police officer for XXXX agency did not make my statements the official policy of my PD. similarly, as long as he qualified that he was not speaking AS the CEO, then identifying himself as such does not make his statements representative of whole foods.

period. it's really that simple.
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bettyellen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:17 PM
Response to Reply #49
59. if you were the head of the police department, that would be different. he isn't a stock boy
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nadinbrzezinski Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:31 PM
Response to Reply #49
65. are you the head of the department?
thought so...

By the way WF is about to pay a price for this, perception, rightly or wrongly matters little.
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Paladin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 01:06 PM
Response to Reply #49
146. Hey, I'm Not CEO Of Whole Foods, Either.

You think the WSJ will publish my views on this matter any time soon? That'll happen about the same time you back a liberal position here at DU......
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tabasco Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:10 PM
Response to Reply #33
93. "a CEO can speak for himself or his company" LOL.
Good luck with that.
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kevinbgoode Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 11:21 PM
Response to Reply #33
117. If they are contending that the Wall Street Journal misrepresented
the op-ed in the headline, then they need to address that they have asked the Wall Street Journal to issue a correction.

Moreover, why isn't that letter being printed in the Wall Street Journal, since it indicates the CEO strongly disagrees with the way in which the WSJ misrepresented his op-ed in the headline?

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aquart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:19 PM
Response to Reply #1
5. Do you mean "more"?
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Canuckistanian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:33 PM
Response to Reply #5
12. Duh. English not first language
My name Tony. Sweep floor.
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abumbyanyothername Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:35 PM
Response to Reply #12
13. Still time to edit. nt
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Canuckistanian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:41 PM
Response to Reply #13
14. Hey, you were right, thanks
How much time do you have to edit, anyways? I always thought it was about 10 minutes.

You'd think I'd know these things, having been on for over 6 years.
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abumbyanyothername Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:44 PM
Response to Reply #14
15. 1 hour, I think. nt
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Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:58 PM
Response to Reply #14
29. That's because an hour on DU seems
like "10 minutes".:)
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Hepburn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:42 PM
Response to Reply #1
108. Yeah, and I suppose your next remark is to offer to sell me a bridge?
Fuck you and your corporate bullshit.

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jberryhill Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 10:20 PM
Response to Reply #108
114. Is It Raining? Or Is Someone Peeing On Your Foot?

Tough choices.
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blondeatlast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 12:09 PM
Response to Reply #1
139. If he was the CEO of Joe's Fruitstand off of Highway 89, it would not have been published.
Damn right it's official.
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aquart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:17 PM
Response to Original message
3. Oh, that must have been a mighty storm that broke over their heads.
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goclark Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 03:35 PM
Response to Reply #3
163. I sent them a nice email
that said why I was saying "Bye, Bye Whole Foods."

I also explained that I was sending it to my entire email contacts list and I asked them to forward it and keep it going.
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Junkdrawer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:17 PM
Response to Original message
4. Translation: Ouch... n/t
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AlinPA Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:19 PM
Response to Original message
6. To hell with Mackey. I'll drive right past Whole Foods to the farm market. nt
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WeDidIt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:19 PM
Response to Original message
7. I will NEVER shop Whole Foods Again
I did most of my grocery shopping there.

No more.
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XOKCowboy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:21 PM
Response to Original message
8. I bet there's a lot of head slapping going on in Austin
Edited on Fri Aug-14-09 06:22 PM by XOKCowboy
Their CEO just insulted the majority of his customers and they're doing some major back-pedaling. They're feeling MAJOR pressure right now.
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abumbyanyothername Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:26 PM
Response to Original message
9. And I respond:
Not good enough.

Retract or I don’t shop you.

Sorry.

abumbyanyothername
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ContinentalOp Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:13 PM
Response to Reply #9
97. It doesn't matter if he "retracts." He said what he honestly believes.
And now we all know that Whole Foods is run by a right wing, free market worshipping moron.
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xultar Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:26 PM
Response to Original message
10. I contacted them said I was no longer a customer and
That their CEO was an idiot.
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hlthe2b Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:35 PM
Response to Reply #10
45. ditto and (with permission) included the names of 32 others
(close friends and colleagues) who have agreed to boycott WF from hereon.
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marybourg Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:33 PM
Response to Original message
11. A "new costumer"
Freepers are hopping on the WF Forum trying to counter the boycott threats of WF shoppers. One posted using the line above. I wonder what his costume will be. A moran perhaps?
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C_U_L8R Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:45 PM
Response to Reply #11
17. Yeah the freep squad is pretty funny on there...
and they are probably doing more damage than good to their fellow Rand-infused rightwing CEO.

A brand is the most valuable asset a company owns and the Whole Foods CEO just poured
organic gasoline all over his and lit it up with some fair trade certified matchsticks.
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Robb Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:58 PM
Response to Reply #17
54. Very nicely put.
I would only add Mackey can shove his free range non-apology up my cruelty-free ass. :toast:
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orwell Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:46 PM
Response to Reply #11
18. Let's see how they like paying $8...
...for a pound of organic arugula.

How well does that mix with a Budweiser and a Big Mac? :beer:
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myrna minx Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:48 PM
Response to Reply #18
21. I"m sure they'll be lining up for wheatgrass juice too.
:D
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Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:01 PM
Response to Reply #21
31. Oh yeah, my fave
when I go to juice bars.
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Critters2 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:48 PM
Response to Reply #11
20. There's a costume party at Whole Foods?
I'm confused.
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KayLaw Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:55 PM
Response to Reply #11
28. Yeah, sure.
I can just see former Wal-Mart shoppers wandering through those aisles. :eyes:
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freeplessinseattle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:26 PM
Response to Reply #28
62. I know, lol, they'd be so confused
It's so not going to happen. If it does though, briefly, heck, I might have to window shop just for kicks to check out the new "costumers". Hilarity will ensue.

The only thing they would buy is from the deli and bakery anyway, the area where stores usually take a loss anyway. When I did shop there, only about 20% of my total bill was from the deli/bakery.
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Quantess Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 01:27 PM
Response to Reply #62
148. Maybe if they offer deep fried items at the deli...
deep fried arugula might just catch on with RWers.
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Arugula Latte Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:32 PM
Response to Reply #11
106. I'm sure the Freeps will be buying up organic, sustainable, local Cheetohs
Any day now ...

:rofl:
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cynatnite Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:45 PM
Response to Original message
16. Does anyone have links to any of this? I don't know anything about it. n/t
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myrna minx Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:47 PM
Response to Reply #16
19. Here is the Op/Ed that has set off a firestorm.
Obviously Mr Macky doesn't know who his customer base is. :puke:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html
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Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:06 PM
Response to Reply #19
32. First off..it shows he hasn't been really listening to
President Obama on this bc Obama has already said that they will find ways to pay for it without adding to the deficit.

After that my eyes started to glaze over..it was surreal having the ceo of Whole Foods writing like a corporatewhore.
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abumbyanyothername Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:10 PM
Response to Reply #32
35. Well that's what he is.
Anyone who plugs into Wall Street, regardless of where their business began, including Steve Jobs, becomes enslaved to the "earnings growth machine."

Once you are touched by it, you have no choice but to take whatever immoral acts are indicated to keep up the illusion of perpetual earnings growth.
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Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:14 PM
Response to Reply #35
37. I take it ..mackey's big mistake
was writing in the wsj about his inner most thoughts?
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abumbyanyothername Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:20 PM
Response to Reply #37
40. Mackey big mistake
other than being a Randian fucktard, is having the level of arrogance to think that his own personal simple solution resolves a problem that has been tormenting the nation for a century.

The fact that he printed it in the WSJ, simple let his customers know how stupid he thinks they are.
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Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:39 PM
Response to Reply #40
48. I love when idiots get
hoisted by and on their own petard.
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DoctorMyEyes Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:57 PM
Response to Reply #35
53. Not Jim Sinegal
Jim Sinegal of Costco remains true to his ethics no matter how much shit the wall street analysts throw at Costco for not screwing over employees and shoppers for better benefit of the shareholders.

I work for Costco, and a big part of why I do is because I have so much respect for Mr. Sinegal and his business model.
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Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:46 PM
Response to Reply #53
69. THanks for that..my son lives on
Kaua'i and they got a Costco a few years ago and they were so stoked!
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Ignis Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 03:09 PM
Response to Reply #69
158. Yes! We were proud to support that store...
...When we were honeymooning on Kaua'i. That, or the many wonderful local businesses.

:hi:
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Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 08:35 PM
Response to Reply #158
178. Ah, yes, the honeymooners who
wanted tips on places to see on Kaua'i in April!

:hi: I'll be retiring there next yearB-)
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aquart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 05:11 PM
Response to Reply #53
168. And it's a wonderful place to shop!
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DireStrike Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 11:33 PM
Response to Reply #32
118. I'm surprised you got that far
I rolled my eyes at the thatcher quote and decided to stop.
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aquart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 05:00 PM
Response to Reply #32
165. A Thatcherite corporate whore.
Frightening to know Whole Foods is run by an idiot.
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abumbyanyothername Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:51 PM
Response to Reply #16
25. The OP in this thread was the text of an email
I received from Whole Foods, in response to my email informing them that I was boycotting.

The original piece was an OpEd piece in the Wall Street Journal yesterday. It is around here in several places.

There is a facebook group for the boycott. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=119099537379
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beltanefauve Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:09 PM
Response to Reply #25
34. Thanks for the facebook link!
I joined!
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Blue Belle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:43 PM
Response to Reply #34
109. Me too!
Got a couple of my friends to as well.
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corpseratemedia Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:50 PM
Response to Original message
22. their customers (now former) are not idiots
They can see right through this bs.

And now they're former customers, as deathers will feel too ill at ease amongst the veggies with illegal-alien sounding names.
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Born_A_Truman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:50 PM
Response to Original message
23. our high deductible medical insurance plan
Sure it keeps costs down because the employees probably can't afford to go to the doctor!
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OmmmSweetOmmm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:52 PM
Response to Reply #23
27. Bingo! My first thought!
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aquart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 05:04 PM
Response to Reply #23
166. Did you like the solution to the problem is to SEE the whole bill.
So we can decide NOT to have necessary tests and procedures because they cost us too much?

What a ninny.
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TheKentuckian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:51 PM
Response to Original message
24. They may as well close the doors.
Freeps won't be picking up that slack.
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armyowalgreens Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 06:52 PM
Response to Original message
26. I got the same thing. It's a stock letter.
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Crabby Appleton Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:00 PM
Response to Original message
30. Fuck Whole Foods nt
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asdjrocky Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:11 PM
Response to Original message
36. Fuck Whole Foods.
More rich people telling poor people to shut up and sit down. For fucks sake, if the CEO doesn't speak for the company, who does?
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JBoy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:17 PM
Response to Original message
38. Mackey is the weasel that trashed his competitor on a Yahoo Finance forum posting under a pseudonym
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mackey_%28businessman%29#Yahoo_Finance_postings

On July 20, 2007, The Wall Street Journal revealed that Mackey was, for at least seven years, using the pseudonym "Rahodeb" (an anagram of his wife's name, Deborah) to post to Yahoo Finance forums referring to himself in the third person and criticizing rival supermarket chain Wild Oats Market. The Federal Trade Commission approved a complaint challenging Whole Foods Market’s approximately $670 million acquisition of its chief rival, Wild Oats Markets, Inc., and authorized the FTC staff to seek a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in federal district court to halt the deal pending an administrative trial on the merits. After an extensive regulatory battle with the FTC, a federal appeals court consented to the deal and Whole Foods officially completed their buyout of Wild Oats on August 27, 2007. His approximately 2000 or more posts are still available online (8000 according to MSN Web Search), by searching for site:finance.yahoo.com rahodeb.

In May 2008, after an SEC investigation cleared him, Mackey started blogging again. In a lengthy 2,037 word diatribe he wrote about why he began blogging in the first place and how his upbringing drove him to defend himself and Whole Foods. He admitted he made a mistake in judgment, but not in ethics.
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NashVegas Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:30 PM
Response to Reply #38
64. Who Cares
Edited on Fri Aug-14-09 08:32 PM by NashVegas
There's plenty I'd criticize him for but that's not one.

People go on the internet and trash their competition all the freaking time. I give Mackey applause for making the time to do it himself instead of having the interns. (Wild Oats were equally horrible corporate sell-outs, anyway, if not worse.)

Still disagree with the workability of his wildly idealistic take on health care, on a mass scale.
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abumbyanyothername Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:38 PM
Response to Reply #64
66. Having followed Omaha Steve around here
I am pretty sure that the labor issues were what got him going on Mackey.

However, the internet activities indicate 1) poor judgment and 2) that he is willing to do whatever it takes, including engaging in borderline illegal activity, to inflate his stock price and line his own pockets.
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skipos Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:22 PM
Response to Original message
42. Trader Joes 4 me! nt
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Annces Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 10:11 AM
Response to Reply #42
133. Traitor Joes sells endangered fish
and they don't tell the customers.

http://www.traitorjoe.com









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D-Lee Donating Member (457 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 01:29 PM
Response to Reply #42
149. Me too! Whole Foods canned fish -- most from China or Asia
Take a look -- I wrote Whole Foods an email and got NO response.

There are always issues. But farmed fish or similar products from China? Take a look on the Internet for reports ...

And Asian processing isn't much better -- the source isn't disclosed and, of course, there is the environmental impact of extra transportation costs.

I will take a look at the endangered species link, though.

And, I never see the reason for going to Whole Foods. Most greenmarkets and local businesses (and Trader Joe's) do much better on price and quality on the things I eat.
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burning rain Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:22 PM
Response to Original message
43. Ah yes, the "We're concerned about our employees" gambit.
Always a nice-sounding excuse to oppose any piece of legislation. Look for Whole Foods to oppose EFCA because "it might hurt their employees." If the only effect healthcare reform had on Whole Foods was to hurt its employees, you can bet your life the corporation wouldn't care either way. They're worried about their bottom line and white-washing it with sham concern for the employees.
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SalviaBlue Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:37 PM
Response to Original message
46. Olbermann just covered this.
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dana_b Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:38 PM
Response to Reply #46
47. saw it
as I was writing a not-so-nice letter to Whole Foods. Perfect!
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bemildred Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:44 PM
Response to Original message
50. Awesome job, "Customer Communications Team", thanks for "speaking up". nt
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CitizenPatriot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:54 PM
Response to Original message
51. is he such a bad CEO
that he didn't realize that Murdoch took over WSJ? WSJ is no longer a good source of info for the financial markets, let alone opinions about healthcare. You might as well turn on Fox.

They changed your title and you're surprised? gee, maybe this is a good time to tell u that they never found those WMD either. No? OK. Sanford is not a democrat. Yikes! It's true! And now you want us to believe you are Pro-healhcare.

Not so much.

Can't wait for WF aisles to be made of up knuckle dragging freeps, driving away those clueless hockey moms who don't follow politics, but shop at WF because it's how you care for your kids. Oh good times are comin'.
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:56 PM
Response to Original message
52. They can kiss my wrinkled old ass goodbye. The CEO spoke, THAT is their position
Edited on Fri Aug-14-09 08:00 PM by DainBramaged
Unless the board fires his Reich-wing ass I won't be stepping foot in one ever again. I'll go back to my torrid relationship with my microwave before I spend a dime in there. And I went out of my way to go there, about a 40 minute drive too.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/ridgewood/

And his blog

http://www2.wholefoodsmarket.com/blogs/jmackey/

As you are probably aware, I wrote an Op/Ed piece that was published in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week on health care reform, one of the biggest and most emotional issues facing our country. I was asked to write an Op/Ed piece and I gave my personal opinions. While I am in favor of health care reform, Whole Foods Market as a company has no official position on the issue.

In answer to President Obama’s invitation to all Americans to put forward constructive ideas for reforming our health care system, I wrote this Op/Ed piece called simply “Health Care Reform.” An editor at the Journal rewrote the headline to call it “Whole Foods Alternative to Obamacare,” which led to antagonistic feelings by many. That was not my intention - in fact, I do not mention the President at all in this piece.

I fully realize that there are many opinions on the healthcare debate, including inside my own company. As we, as a nation, continue to discuss this, I am hopeful that both sides can do so in a civil manner that will lead to positive change for all concerned. You are welcome to share your thoughts in the comments section below. (Just remember our comment guidelines prohibit vulgarity and personal attacks.)

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janet118 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:58 PM
Response to Original message
55. My friend's daughter works at Whole Foods . . .
it will be news to her that they have a "creative" health care plan. I guess she's not a "team member." She's on MassHealth because her pay is so low that she qualifies. She can't even afford to buy groceries there and calls it "Whole Paycheck" when she is out of earshot of the store.
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amborin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 11:37 PM
Response to Reply #55
119. everyone here in LA calls it "whole paycheck"
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abumbyanyothername Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 10:06 AM
Response to Reply #119
131. Obama called them whole paycheck
during the campaign, perhaps during the debates.
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amborin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 02:53 PM
Response to Reply #131
155. it's been called that here for years!
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jberryhill Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 07:59 PM
Response to Original message
56. Fuck 'em

"John’s intent was to express his personal opinions"

Yeah? He can fund his expression with someone else's money. Not mine. Not anymore.
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Hepburn Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:48 PM
Response to Reply #56
111. That's what I told them in my email...
...and that they will NEVER see me as a customer again.
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Omaha Steve Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:07 PM
Response to Original message
57. They apologized a few weeks ago for being union busters
Edited on Fri Aug-14-09 08:08 PM by Omaha Steve

They apologized when they got caught running down a competitors stock in financial chat rooms. The end result was they bought Wild Oats at a discounted price.

And they are sorry they keep getting caught.

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tj2001 Donating Member (685 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:09 PM
Response to Original message
58. Bullshit. The CEO speaks for the company, regardless of
what his little Customer Communications peon says
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:17 PM
Response to Original message
60. And my comment left on their site
Edited on Fri Aug-14-09 08:23 PM by DainBramaged
http://www2.wholefoodsmarket.com/blogs/jmackey/2009/08/14/health-care-reform-full-article/#comment-1780

I go way out of my way (about 40-45 minutes one way) to shop at your Ridgewood NJ store when I needed to do a 'big shop' (like I need to do this weekend). After reading your Op-Ed in the Wall Street Urinal and then your CYA attempt at damage control, I realized that the only thing the two of us had in common was my money. And that one single thread that bound us is now broken. You need to lose your job and struggle like the rest of us do every day, and to have to PAY exorbitant amounts for health care. But, until the store revenues drop off as those of us who support health care for all (and no longer support Whole Foods), you'll just have to find someone elses money to take. Oh and the Republican base that you are a part of, there aren't enough of them to make up for the loss of us Liberals as customers. Buh bye.


HAHA they moderated it with "personal attack" LOL fuck 'em.
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beac Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 11:08 PM
Response to Reply #60
115. Thanks for the link.
I have to laugh at all the wingnuts who are claiming that they are suddenly going to start shopping at Whole Foods. Wait 'til they see what hippy-liberal-organic-free-range chicken costs! :rofl:
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 04:24 AM
Response to Reply #60
123. They are scrubbing the negative comments (mine included) from the site
Which shows you how dishonest they really are.
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Timshel Donating Member (73 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:19 PM
Response to Original message
61. My response (I got the letter too)...
While I appreciate the response, unfortunately it does nothing to defray my concerns; in fact, it introduces more questions - the main one being: If John Mackey does not represent Whole Foods, then who does, and why is he still CEO?

The fact of the matter is that two people I am very close with have been, or are currently, affected by this debate: one died after he didn't go for checkups often enough when his cancer went into remission because he had no health insurance, and didn't want to leave his family with large medical bills (my FATHER - a southern baptist minister - this is not just a right/left issue), and the other pays $300 a month for health care because he is unemployed due to outsourcing (my PARTNER) and he is lucky, only because he was able to save enough to afford his current health insurance.

I will be shopping at the Sunset Valley Farmers Market, as well as Sun Harvest. I spent the money I spent at Whole Foods because I believed that their LEADERS felt as I do about public welfare, and now it appears that I must shop elsewhere because, if John Mackey has anything to do with it, I have to save what money I can in case true health care reform doesn't pass. What money I have to spend on grocery, etc will now go elsewhere, unless, of course the unbelievable happens, and John Mackey leaves Whole Foods.


PS: Had a cake to buy for an anniversary celebration today - made my own cake instead of going to the 6th street Whole Foods. I may not own much, but my soul is not for sale.

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booley Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:28 PM
Response to Original message
63. "No Official Position"?
Edited on Fri Aug-14-09 08:45 PM by booley
Even if we accept that the company's CEO didnt' speak for his company, that still leaves the question, why dont' they have an official position?

Whole Foods bills itself as caring for the community.

So how could they claim they dont' have an opinion about health care either way?
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Imperfect World Donating Member (56 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:44 PM
Response to Original message
67. Mackey's policy for his employees is an awesome one. Why are people mad at him?
In John Mackey's original article, he stated:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html

Whole Foods Market pays 100% of the premiums for all our team members who work 30 hours or more per week (about 89% of all team members) for our high-deductible health-insurance plan. We also provide up to $1,800 per year in additional health-care dollars through deposits into employees' Personal Wellness Accounts to spend as they choose on their own health and wellness.

Money not spent in one year rolls over to the next and grows over time. Our team members therefore spend their own health-care dollars until the annual deductible is covered (about $2,500) and the insurance plan kicks in. This creates incentives to spend the first $2,500 more carefully. Our plan's costs are much lower than typical health insurance, while providing a very high degree of worker satisfaction.


That's a great policy, and I don't know why people posting in this thread are getting mad over it. There are 50 million uninsured people in this country who would love to have that kind of coverage. In fact, even among the 250 million who already have insurance, I bet a lot of them would prefer to have the Whole Foods plan, instead of the insurance that they currently have.

Why are people mad at Mackey for providing his employees with such a wonderful plan?
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abumbyanyothername Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:46 PM
Response to Reply #67
68. Hello
:hi:

goodbye.

And yes we could argue against HSAs. But you don't really want to learn.
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Imperfect World Donating Member (56 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:50 PM
Response to Reply #68
72. He pays 100% of the premium, and most of the deductible.
What's wrong with that?

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Stephanie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:46 PM
Response to Reply #67
70. Mackey has been known to troll under a pseudonym in praise of himself
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Imperfect World Donating Member (56 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:51 PM
Response to Reply #70
73. I'm not him.
And you did not answer my question.

There are 50 million uninsured people in this country who would love to have a policy like that. What's wrong with giving it to them?

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abumbyanyothername Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:54 PM
Response to Reply #73
77. Is he offering to insure 50 million people?
Because I missed that part.

But if he is, hooray! And I will lead the charge back to Whole Foods.
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Imperfect World Donating Member (56 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:57 PM
Response to Reply #77
79. No, he's not.
But I think everyone should have a choice like that - maybe it could be the "public option" that people are talking about.
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abumbyanyothername Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:59 PM
Response to Reply #79
81. Well
I just suggest that we offer the 50 million people Medicare first.

How about that?

If you can come up with the money to fund both sides of the HSA plan for 50 million people, I will get on board with you.
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Imperfect World Donating Member (56 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:02 PM
Response to Reply #81
84. Medicare is fine too.
The point is that they need something, and getting mad at people who offer a suggestion is not going to help the situation.
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abumbyanyothername Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:04 PM
Response to Reply #84
87. Again
all he has to do is come out in support of Medicare for all, or tell us how to pay for HSA for all.

In the meantime, we are not shopping at his store.
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Jim Sagle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:21 PM
Response to Reply #84
103. Bye, John..
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Garbo 2004 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 02:35 PM
Response to Reply #84
153. Mackey isn't simply providing a suggestion, he's against the public option, perpetuating myths about
it and against regulation of a profit, not health, motivated industry. To support his claims against nationalized health systems he cites the same publication, Investor's Business Daily, that stated that that famed British scientist Stephen Hawking would not be alive today if he was dependent on the UK's NHS.

He's not simply offering a suggestion, he's promoting an ideology: the unregulated marketplace will take care of things better. And for those without coverage, charity should deal with it. And if it doesn't, tough. In his view evidently, it's better for people to die from want than having the "socialism" of a government run health care system as an alternative.
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:52 PM
Response to Reply #67
75. I see you've arrived to try and be the voice of Whole Foods... Too late.
Edited on Fri Aug-14-09 08:55 PM by DainBramaged
We don't particularly give a shit about what Whole Foods does or does not for the employees, the CEO IS the face of Whole Foods, just like Roger Ailes is the face of FAX news, and since he thinks that fixing health care is a bad idea, shopping at Whole Foods is an even worse one for us.

Go peddle your shit elsewhere.\

Pizza Time

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Imperfect World Donating Member (56 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:56 PM
Response to Reply #75
78. You did not answer my question.
There are 50 million Americans with no insurance who would love to have a policy like that. Why not spend the money to give it to them, instead of bailing out AIG, banks, General Motors, etc.?
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:59 PM
Response to Reply #78
80. I find no need to answer your question
coming here to defend Wholly Owned Republican Foods is akin to jumping off the roof of one of your stores, simply stupid. And besides, I don't answer questions presented by fools.

Buh Bye, pizza is coming.
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Imperfect World Donating Member (56 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:04 PM
Response to Reply #80
86. It's a policy that most people would love to have.
Not just the 50 million who don't have insurance, but also many of the 250 million who do.
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conflictgirl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 12:53 AM
Response to Reply #86
122. WRONG. I have insurance like that now and I hate it.
It covers so little, and that "incentive" not to use it frivolously in the form of high deductibles combined with a low income means that I don't go to the doctor when I need to. When I do actually truly need to go to the doctor it puts me in debt for the rest of the year, which is the position I find myself in now. I wish I had REAL insurance that I could actually afford and wasn't afraid to use when I needed to seek treatment.

And you can add me to the list of liberal, low-income Whole Foods shoppers who will no longer be shopping there for this. I drove 100 miles to Whole Foods once a month to stock up, mostly on bulk foods and some of the non-perishables that were a little more affordable. I never thought the day would come that freaking WHOLE FOODS of all companies would join my boycott list, but the corporate response on this one has only made me more convinced that a boycott is called for.
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Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 02:44 PM
Response to Reply #122
154. It's Cosmic how much this article in the WSJ
by the ceo of Whole Foods afftected its customers.

There's enough forces working against The People getting Health Insurance Reform without this guy arrogantly "solving" the problem with his 2 cents. He just illustrated his denseness and his corporateswhoreness.
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Raineyb Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 10:30 AM
Response to Reply #86
136. Uh no
A high deductible health insurance policy? What the hell is the point of having insurance if you have to go out of pocket before the insurance will pay for anything. Those type of policies are used because they hope that the person who is unfortunate enough to be covered by such a "policy" won't actually use it. And a constantly renewing deductible that has to be paid guarantees that the insurer won't actually pay anything (assuming it doesn't find an excuse to not pay for it in the first place) until something catastrophic has happened (after which the insurer will probably drop the person.) Meanwhile, regular checkups which could catch problems before they become larger will be skipped because the money isn't there to pay the bill.

An company which caters to a left of center clientele and is stupid enough to voice such freeperish opinions contrary to the opinion of the people whose money they take in order to make their profits deserves exactly what it gets.

And I have no idea who these people are who are clamoring for a high deductible insurance plan. My former employer offered several different plans and made damn sure that I took a plan that did not have deductibles. What's the point of having money taken out of my check every week to pay for insurance and then only have it cover 70% of a hospital stay? That is bullshit and so is your argument.
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Moochy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 03:29 PM
Response to Reply #86
162. You speak in the verbage of a PR Shill
"love" great wonderful all these power positive words. COMMUNICATIONS TEAM EPIC FAIL.
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Garbo 2004 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 04:42 PM
Response to Reply #86
164. Most people would prefer better coverage than that. But Mackey doesn't support them having it. nt
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abumbyanyothername Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:03 PM
Response to Reply #78
85. AIG and banks are different than GM
The AIG and bank money went directly to Goldman Sachs and Chase. Goldman cannot fail because it owns the government (Paulson, Rubin, Geithner, etc.). JP Morgan Chase cannot fail because it is the government's banker.

General Motors either had to be bailed out or all of the employees would have had to be supported somehow. I tend to agree that the better solution would have been to give the money to these employees directly, but I'm afraid the people screaming socialism would have really been screaming at that.
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Imperfect World Donating Member (56 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:06 PM
Response to Reply #85
90. General Motors....
.... had a great electric car 10 years ago called the EV-1. People liked it, and it would have reduced global warming. But GM chose not to sell it, because they'd rather sell Hummers instead. They deserve to go bankrupt. The Nissan Leaf elctric car is coming out next year, so they deserve to succeed. We should not subsidize failure.
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abumbyanyothername Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:10 PM
Response to Reply #90
94. Again, GM was not about subsidizing failure
those people are wiped out in the BK.

The question is what to do about 3 million displaced workers (not just GM, but the whole central US supply chain).

BTW -- I am waiting for a plug in, but the Chevy volt looks like it will beat the Nissan leaf to market. At least what I read about Nissan's entry is that they are going to sell it fleets for a year or two before rolling it out to consumers.
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Imperfect World Donating Member (56 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:13 PM
Response to Reply #94
96. The Chevy Volt...
... only goes 40 miles before it needs gas. The Nissan Leaf goes 100 miles and doesn't use any gas.

The GM bailout didn't stop them from going bankrupt or from laying off workers. I don't know what happened to the bailout money - probably went to the CEOs and stockholders. Ford didn't get a bailout and it's doing much better than GM. Do you think we should have bailed out the horse and buggy industry 100 years ago to save all those jobs?
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abumbyanyothername Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:17 PM
Response to Reply #96
102. Nissan, on paper, looks like a better product but
where is it? I only need 40 miles tops (or 300 to get to Vegas).

I am probably going to break down and buy a Volt (currently own no car, I walk, bike and bus) when it comes out. Otherwise I have to wait another 2 years for a personal car.

We could discuss my economic plans if you are going to hang around long enough.

You'll probably have to go make a few liberal looking posts to do that though.
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:10 PM
Response to Reply #85
95. I guess the AMERICAN MADE Chevy Volt isn't in your future (2010)?
Edited on Fri Aug-14-09 09:12 PM by DainBramaged
Leave it to a shill for a Reich-wing company to cheer for a JAPANESE car and not a Domestic built in America.

You really are batting a thousand aren't you?


Nice try at diversion too, being the Leaf was just in the news. it fits your attention span.


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Imperfect World Donating Member (56 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:14 PM
Response to Reply #95
98. Many "American" cars are made in Mexico.
And many "Japanese" cars are made in the U.S.
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:16 PM
Response to Reply #98
101. And NONE of our money is going to be spent at Whole Foods!
Edited on Fri Aug-14-09 09:24 PM by DainBramaged
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :patriot:




Some customer base you pissed off. Like I said, the 'Pukes YOU support won't make up for the dollars we spent (past tense).
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 04:42 AM
Response to Reply #98
124. Japanese cars are ASSEMBLED here, give me a break.
Scrubbing negative comments at WF blog is dishonest at the very least, typical at best.

Goodbye it must suck pimping for the new Wal-Mart.
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Ilsa Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 10:04 AM
Response to Reply #78
128. "Love to have a policy like that" ??? What total bullshit. nt
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BlueIdaho Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:07 PM
Response to Reply #67
91. Welcome to DU!
Mr. 13 posts...
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Imperfect World Donating Member (56 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:15 PM
Response to Reply #91
99. Thank you!
Yeah, my number is small, but it can grow!
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:15 PM
Response to Reply #91
100. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
BlueIdaho Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:22 PM
Response to Reply #100
104. Hot, Fresh, and Tasty. nt.
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:29 PM
Response to Reply #104
105. Ahhh, the pause before the bell goes DINGDINGDING
Waiting for the granite door-stopper to show up. They just assume we are as dumb as Republican'ts.
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Moochy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 10:21 AM
Response to Reply #104
135. But is does the Pizza have Organic Arugula on it?
Customer Communications Team FAIL
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Moochy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 03:23 PM
Response to Reply #91
160. Mr Joined Friday And Has Not Denied Being Part of Communications Team
Yet when people here are calling this shill on its crap, their posts get deleted. Look for Whole Foods Banner ads soon!
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jberryhill Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:36 PM
Response to Reply #67
107. I guess because he doesn't employ the whole fucking country....

The argument is not about whatever he does or does not do in his personal playpen, and that's not what he's being criticized about.

Signed up just to miss the point, didja?
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beac Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 11:14 PM
Response to Reply #67
116. Do you REALLY not understand that $2500 is an insurmountable
deductible for a lot of people-- especially people working for $8-$10 an hour??? :eyes:

Oh, and one of the reasons we're "mad" at Mackey is that his article is full of fear-mongering and inaccuracies--- not to mention he throws out the "socialism" BS right there in the first line of the article.
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Imperfect World Donating Member (56 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 12:01 PM
Response to Reply #116
137. Mackey pays $1,800 of that $2,500.
The idea of having the account is so that people will be careful about how they spend their money - so they don't go to the doctor for every sniffle, but they do go when it's genuinely important. And it works. And people have more choices and more options, and are happier with the results. That's a good thing. The 50 million uninsured Americans should have that same option, as one of many options for health care.
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devilgrrl Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 12:21 PM
Response to Reply #137
140. GAWD, it is getting deep in here.
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beac Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 03:01 PM
Response to Reply #137
156. So, you are proposing the government pay the first $1800 of all Americans' high deductible??
Try and get that one past the Astroturf crowd! :rofl:

Or do you really think most currently uninsured people could EVER meet a $2500 deductible? Even with $1800 "covered", $700 is still an enormous figure. Isn't it more likely that they'd be technically "insured" but STILL have NO access to health care do to that ridiculous deductible?

I see you are also trotting out the old "people run to the doctor's every time they sniffle" canard. I don't know ANY adults who do this, but people with young children whose immune systems aren't fully developed probably do frequent the pediatricians on a regular basis, as they should. Parents should NOT have to worry about whether they can afford to make sure their sick child is okay.

And you can bet your bippy that that $1800 is considered part of their "compensation" and used as a justification to pay workers less, so WF is not "paying" it, they are just withholding some of the worker's income for them.


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Liberal In Texas Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 07:49 PM
Response to Reply #137
174. This idea that people will go to the doc "for every sniffle" or that people will go for "fun"
is a huge RW talking point. Who in their right mind enjoys going to a doctor's office to sit reading 2 month old magazines for 2 hours or more then get poked and prodded, stuck with needles and pee in a cup. I've got better things to do with my time.

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abumbyanyothername Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 07:53 PM
Response to Reply #174
175. These are the same people who
believe that no one would be productive except under threat of starvation.

I don't really understand it. If they're so high and tight on freedom, why don't they support the idea of freedom from want and then let's see how really spectacular humans can be when they are truly free.
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HCE SuiGeneris Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 11:47 PM
Response to Reply #67
121. Hey puppet. Piss off.
It's too late to retract the corporate line.
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Imperfect World Donating Member (56 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 12:07 PM
Response to Reply #121
138. That is a personal insult, not an explanation.
The fact is that Mackey gives his employees far better insurance than what most Americans have. Mackey should be praised for that, not criticized.

I am not a "puppet." I have never worked for Whole Foods. I have nothing to do with the company. I just know that when an employer treats their workers well, the employer should be praised, not criticized. The world needs more people like Mackey.

Neither you nor I have ever started a giant company and offered quality health insurance to thousands of employees the way that Mackey has. The difference, though, is that I admire someone who does that, while you have hatred and contempt for him.
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Robb Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 12:53 PM
Response to Reply #138
144. Keep digging. nt
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 03:16 PM
Response to Reply #138
159. I see you are back slinging shit again
look, personal deductible health plans are bullshit, period. And for you to come here and insult us by defending a CEO who thinks that the world is perfect and doesn't need medical reform (and is simply an elitist fuck) is also bullshit. I for one will NEVER set foot in one of your fucking stores, and just the fact that you people censored the comments on his blog show how dishonest you really are.

Your departure from our forum cant come soon enough. Oh, and go to hell.
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aquart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 07:03 PM
Response to Reply #138
171. Define "well."
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-17-09 02:26 PM
Response to Reply #138
184. Monday kick to boycott assWhole Foods
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Native Donating Member (885 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 08:37 AM
Response to Reply #67
126. I have a high deductible plan with a health savings account . . .
had one for years - all the way back to their inception - when they were only available to the self-employed and were called MSA's (medical savings accounts). My current high deductible plan has an out of network deductible of $20,000. You tell me how in the hell a plan like this is going to work for someone making a little over minimum wage - e.g., a WF's employee? Heck, how can anyone afford to get sick on a plan like this? If you read John's op ed piece in full, you can clearly see that this guy is steeped in extreme right-wing ideology. A big clue was his rant about the people who don't take care of themselves - which translates to the the "why should I, a non-smoking jogger, pay for the health care of those who can't afford to shop @ Whole Foods and consistently turn to packaged foods loaded with trans fats, HFC, pesticides, mercury, hormones, and worse?" Here's a life lesson for you - never swallow without doing a little research & asking some intelligent questions. Remember, the only reason they're making headway in their efforts to destroy health care reform is because they're exploiting the illiterati (the uninformed & unquestioning masses).
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beac Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 03:04 PM
Response to Reply #126
157. Bingo!
:applause:

All you had to read what that opening "socialism" quote (a MIS-quote, as it turns out!) to know that it was going to be a steaming pile of wingnut crap.
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Raineyb Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 10:20 AM
Response to Reply #67
134. ...
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suffragette Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 01:58 PM
Response to Reply #67
150. HSA's are not "awesome." They are based on the erroneous moral hazard
view that regards health care as being the same as any other commodity and encourages people (through having to share more burden of cost) to use health care more frugally.

This is wrong at its core. Health care is not a commodity; it is a human right.

Deciding whether one should have an annual pap smear (which could have results ranging from being fine to detecting cancer early) is very different from deciding to purchase a large product or small one or not to purchase something at all.

No surprise that Bush was one of the strongest proponents of HSA's:
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/08/29/050829fa_fact?currentPage=all

At the center of the Bush Administration’s plan to address the health-insurance mess are Health Savings Accounts, and Health Savings Accounts are exactly what you would come up with if you were concerned, above all else, with minimizing moral hazard. The logic behind them was laid out in the 2004 Economic Report of the President. Americans, the report argues, have too much health insurance: typical plans cover things that they shouldn’t, creating the problem of overconsumption. Several paragraphs are then devoted to explaining the theory of moral hazard. The report turns to the subject of the uninsured, concluding that they fall into several groups. Some are foreigners who may be covered by their countries of origin. Some are people who could be covered by Medicaid but aren’t or aren’t admitting that they are. Finally, a large number “remain uninsured as a matter of choice.” The report continues, “Researchers believe that as many as one-quarter of those without health insurance had coverage available through an employer but declined the coverage. . . . Still others may remain uninsured because they are young and healthy and do not see the need for insurance.” In other words, those with health insurance are overinsured and their behavior is distorted by moral hazard. Those without health insurance use their own money to make decisions about insurance based on an assessment of their needs. The insured are wasteful. The uninsured are prudent. So what’s the solution? Make the insured a little bit more like the uninsured.

~snip~

Under the Health Savings Accounts system, consumers are asked to pay for routine health care with their own money—several thousand dollars of which can be put into a tax-free account. To handle their catastrophic expenses, they then purchase a basic health-insurance package with, say, a thousand-dollar annual deductible. As President Bush explained recently, “Health Savings Accounts all aim at empowering people to make decisions for themselves, owning their own health-care plan, and at the same time bringing some demand control into the cost of health care.”

Health Savings Accounts represent the final, irrevocable step in the actuarial direction. If you are preoccupied with moral hazard, then you want people to pay for care with their own money, and, when you do that, the sick inevitably end up paying more than the healthy. And when you make people choose an insurance plan that fits their individual needs, those with significant medical problems will choose expensive health plans that cover lots of things, while those with few health problems will choose cheaper, bare-bones plans. The more expensive the comprehensive plans become, and the less expensive the bare-bones plans become, the more the very sick will cluster together at one end of the insurance spectrum, and the more the well will cluster together at the low-cost end. The days when the healthy twenty-five-year-old subsidizes the sixty-year-old with heart disease or diabetes are coming to an end. “The main effect of putting more of it on the consumer is to reduce the social redistributive element of insurance,” the Stanford economist Victor Fuchs says. Health Savings Accounts are not a variant of universal health care. In their governing assumptions, they are the antithesis of universal health care.

The issue about what to do with the health-care system is sometimes presented as a technical argument about the merits of one kind of coverage over another or as an ideological argument about socialized versus private medicine. It is, instead, about a few very simple questions. Do you think that this kind of redistribution of risk is a good idea? Do you think that people whose genes predispose them to depression or cancer, or whose poverty complicates asthma or diabetes, or who get hit by a drunk driver, or who have to keep their mouths closed because their teeth are rotting ought to bear a greater share of the costs of their health care than those of us who are lucky enough to escape such misfortunes? In the rest of the industrialized world, it is assumed that the more equally and widely the burdens of illness are shared, the better off the population as a whole is likely to be. The reason the United States has forty-five million people without coverage is that its health-care policy is in the hands of people who disagree, and who regard health insurance not as the solution but as the problem. ♦


You should read the whole article so you understand in full what you're really supporting and why it is the wrong direction.
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Moochy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 03:26 PM
Response to Reply #67
161. Mr Mackey, you'd like Mr Benchley!
WONDERFUL GREAT LOVE PREFER ! all power words from the COMMUNICATIONS TEAM Handbook! WONDERFUL!
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aquart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 06:56 PM
Response to Reply #67
170. Welcome to DU. May your brief stay be a happy one.
Let's see how healthy YOU are with a $2500 deductible.
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Touchdown Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 08:17 PM
Response to Reply #67
176. That's not a "wonderful" plan.
AT&T (another Texas company) pays all premiums, with a $20 co-pay, $70 for ER, $25 hospital stay. Vision care: one pair of glasses/contacts free each year. Dental: Two free cleanings, and majority of repair work done free (I got a sleep guard for free, that's $300). Unlimited number of times to see a Psych, with a $10 co-pay up to $750, then all psychotherapy is free.

That is a wonderful plan. AT&T also wants to trim that down... Assholes!
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aint_no_life_nowhere Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:48 PM
Response to Original message
71. They're boasting about having a healthcare plan with a high deductible?
How high, I wonder. And they're boasting about the fact part-time employees (one out of ten of their employees) pay their own premiums? Is this an incentive for employers to keep a relatively large part-time workforce?

"...We believe that our high deductible medical insurance plan coupled with a company-funded HSA is an excellent way to empower team members to make their own health care choices. (...)

Whole Foods Market has been able to pay 100 percent of the premiums for our full-time team members — about 89% of our workforce. (Part-timers are eligible for the insurance plan too and pay the premium themselves.) ..."
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Imperfect World Donating Member (56 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:52 PM
Response to Reply #71
76. 89% of employees being full time.....
..... is very impressive for a national grocery chain.

I wonder how low Wal Mart's rate is - maybe half that?
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aint_no_life_nowhere Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:01 PM
Response to Reply #76
82. It's maybe better than no insurance
but no great shakes compared to the rest of the civilized world, where everyone is covered. Comparing them to Walmart is not going to convince a lot of people here.
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:02 PM
Response to Reply #82
83. Did someone say WALMART?????
Edited on Fri Aug-14-09 09:03 PM by DainBramaged



Ceiling cat is watching pizza delivered.

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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 08:24 PM
Response to Reply #76
177. Scrubbing the negative comments from the blog shows what dishonest scumbags you all are at WF
if you had a decent bone you'd take your lumps and man up, but, you decided to scrub the negatives and back the Right wingers (who can barely read the Wall Street urinal).

I have an email list of about 400 names. Today I broadcast to all of them your position and why I think Whole Foods is no longer a viable option for those of us who are Progressives.

May your company flounder and eventually, the board will realize you are toxic. But even after you've gone, it will take a miracle for myself to ever spend another dime at your stores. And I may even join in picketing them.
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Moochy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Aug-16-09 12:15 PM
Response to Reply #177
181. "its a private website"
they can exercise the same editorial control that any website owner does.
Admins delete posts they judge to be unworthy or rule violating all the time, with an eye toward controlling negative PR messaging.

"but hey its a privately owned website" is the argument here, why doesn't it apply to another corporation besides DU?
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Aug-16-09 03:05 PM
Response to Reply #181
182. I stand by what I said, they are scumbags
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marmar Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 08:52 PM
Response to Original message
74. Mierda del toro.......
A big mound of it.
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graywarrior Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:05 PM
Response to Original message
88. I'll bet their staff turnover is huge.
I worked at a brand new Wild Oats and within 3 months most of the full timers I worked with were gone. I left after 6 months. The jobs are grueling and full timers end up filling in for part timers who didn't show up for their shifts. We did get a 15% discount which helped, but the job was exhausting. I lived in a totally liberal town so the market hired mostly liberals and greenies.

When talk of Whole Foods coming into town and right down the street, Wild Oaties grumbled and swore loyalty to stay where they were. Eventually WF took over WO and most of the staff who had worked there for a few years moved on to other jobs not wanting to get involved with WF.

When you work for a supermarket, you are a slave no matter how much they tell you they value you as a "team member." It's a difficult job cut out for only the people who want to excel in that business.

So with a huge turnover of staff, I wonder what they really pay in health benefits. I believe I had to work 3 months before getting covered by a crap insurance company.

Anyway, that's my opinion.
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SheWhoMustBeObeyed Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:05 PM
Response to Original message
89. Fuck Whole Foods
Let me just say, "whole foods" is not a proprietary claim. Wherever you shop for food, even a kwiki-mart, you can find whole food choices.

But "Whole Foods" is a racket. It's just a brand positioning, like everyday low prices. Only in their case, it's designed to justify outrageous prices. Just because Whole Foods has it on their shelf is no guarantee that a product is good for you, your community or your world.

Turn over some of those packages and check the fine print for the name of the manufacturer. You'll find some of the biggest conglomerates in the world. Companies with labor, environmental and health violations on their rap sheets. Companies whose products you'd pass up at a regular supermarket, but you don't think you'll find within the sacrosanct walls of a Whole Foods store.

Think again. They make special products to appeal to Whole Foods customers. But they plop out of the nozzles of the same machines they use to make their crap-for-the-masses products.

And Whole Foods knows it. Fuck them.


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Crabby Appleton Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 06:34 AM
Response to Reply #89
125. I agree nt
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Ilsa Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 10:05 AM
Response to Reply #89
130. I'll darken their doorstep again, either. nt
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bunkerbuster1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 07:35 PM
Response to Reply #89
173. Seconded. (or fourthed, at this point.)
It's an overpriced Yuppiedrome, and maybe this latest kerfluffle will open a lot of eyes about a lot of things we do to relieve our white guilt.
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Thickasabrick Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:09 PM
Response to Original message
92. Most pathetic corporate response .... evah nt
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SOS Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:46 PM
Response to Original message
110. OT: "Team members"?
Is Whole Foods a baseball team?

It's capital and labor.
The people who work there are workers.

Just another slice of modern big business.
Minimum wage, crappy benefits, but lots of spiffy names and titles.

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DireStrike Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 11:45 PM
Response to Reply #110
120. Every corporation refers to workers this way
Any official company documents are almost impossible to read - a linguistic chainsaw would sigh in exasperation when tasked with cutting through that forest of euphemism.
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jberryhill Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 09:53 PM
Response to Original message
112. Clean Up In Aisle Six!

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pipoman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Aug-14-09 10:19 PM
Response to Original message
113. Any business person
who gets involved in any way in politics, unless they have "fuck everyone money", is a moran. It doesn't matter what position you take, half of your potential customers will disagree. Actors, musicians, comedians, large and small businesses should concentrate on their product sales and keep their stupid mouths shut about public policy, religion and politics. He deserves any fallout he receives, not for his opinion, but for being too fucking stupid to keep it to himself and his inner circle.

All that said, I have believed that catastrophic major medical insurance which is far less expensive than low co-pay, full coverage plans, is a viable answer for many who are currently not insured...until there is another option. The reason is that if a major health issue arises you will receive needed treatment if the health providers know that they will be paid in full for anything over say $5,000. For most people who work, $5,000 is a large sum but not to the point of financial ruin in the face of hundreds of thousands for a serious health issues.
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 09:58 AM
Response to Original message
127. KICK to boycott Whole Paycheck
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Annces Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 10:04 AM
Response to Original message
129. Remarkable
I had heard that Whole Foods does not like Unions. Now this CEO opinions are out there for everyone to see.
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SoCalDem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 10:06 AM
Response to Original message
132. John Mackey (his company) would fire a rank and file employee
who voiced (in public) an opinion that "disparaged" the philosophy of Whole Foods

Gander, meet Goose
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Liberal In Texas Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 12:45 PM
Response to Original message
141. or How to Ruin Your Company in One Easy Op-ed.
I especially won't be giving my business to a guy who thinks that tort reform is part of the answer.

Tort reform in Texas didn't do anything to bring down either insurance premiums or health costs. Since he lives in Austin, Mackey should know this.

I hope somebody decent buys the stores when he goes out of business.

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Robb Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 12:50 PM
Response to Reply #141
142. I know... TORT REFORM??
FFS. Tone-deaf doesn't begin to describe Mackey.
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BlooInBloo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 12:52 PM
Response to Original message
143. Well, allow me to retort: Fuck you.
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Neecy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 12:59 PM
Response to Original message
145. Not good enough.
I spent around $300/mo in their Tulsa store, but no more. The editorial just turned my stomach.

How out of touch are these corporate overlords that a billionaire could brazenly tell us to pass the hat to insure people? Isn't taxation "passing the hat" and a fair way of doing so? They expect *us* to pass the hat while they have a million tax breaks and dodges.

When did we allow corporate America to become so bold, to tell US, their CUSTOMERS, what benefits as citizens - NOT AS THEIR EMPLOYEES - we're worth? How did we let this come this far, get this out of control?

Hey, asshole - we can eat all of your organic produce we want, but that won't heal a broken arm, will it?

I'm sick to death of these mofo billionaires telling us what crumbs we're going to be allowed. Whole Foods can kiss my ass. I've spent my last dollar there.
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tj2001 Donating Member (685 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 01:14 PM
Response to Original message
147. Can anyone check and see how Whole Foods' Austin flagship store is doing today?
I bet many shoppers – many of whom I suspect voted for Obama – still have no idea what John Mackey said. The story is buried in the inside pages of the Austin paper.
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 02:04 PM
Response to Original message
151. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
newspeak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 02:32 PM
Response to Original message
152. yeah, you know some of those people in LA at the huge medical aid
also have health insurance. But their health insurance doesn't cover vision, dental or the policy has a high deductible. Because, ya know, if you have a low wage job and a high deductible you can't afford to go to the doctor.

In my neck of the woods, Wf took over wild oats--I shopped at wild oats-it was closer. I was pissed when wild oats shut down-there were a few things that I could only get at wild oats. The Wf store is located in the "elite" part of town. It's been well over a year since wild oats has closed-the building is still empty-nothing has replaced it!!!! The CEO of WF has a right to blog crap about Wild Oats-dishonest, unethical, hell yeah--but I shall not be a "captive" consumer. He can fekk off!
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quiet.american Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 05:52 PM
Response to Original message
169. Aside from all else, they lose me at "high-deductible health insurance" for their staff. nt
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bunkerbuster1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Aug-15-09 07:34 PM
Response to Original message
172. Apology NOT accepted.
You can forget about my ever again shopping at your overpriced yuppiedrome unless you fire his ass.

And I've got one real close to my work, too. I'd maybe go back if you get rid of that smelly pile of crap in your organization.
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Aug-16-09 07:19 AM
Response to Original message
180. And a good Sunday morning Fuck YOU to AssHole Foods and their CEO
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Quantess Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Aug-17-09 12:04 AM
Response to Reply #180
183. That's a new one for me.
Asshole Foods
:D
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Aug-18-09 05:43 PM
Response to Original message
185. Another kick to remind people NOT to patronize assWhole Foods
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