General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPapa Johns CEO back-tracks on ObamaCare. He now plans to add thousands of jobs.
This was an editorial written today by Pappa John's CEO John Schnatter.
It can be found at the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-h-schnatter/papa-johns-obamacare_b_2166209.html
The Real Scoop on Papa John's and Obamacare
Reading what has been written about statements I made on the effect of the Affordable Care Act on our franchisees reminds me of a quote from Lewis H. Lapham, former editor of Harper's magazine: "People may expect too much of journalism. Not only do they expect it to be entertaining, they expect it to be true."
Many in the media reported that I said Papa John's is going to close stores and cut jobs because of Obamacare. I never said that. The fact is we are going to open over hundreds of stores this year and next and increase employment by over 5,000 jobs worldwide. And, we have no plans to cut team hours as a result of the Affordable Care Act.
Here is the part of the interchange that was the genesis of the news:
Reporter: "Do you think your -- you know -- franchise owners... are going to cut people hours back to make them part time instead of full time?"
Me: "Well, in Hawaii there is a form of the same kind of health insurance and that's what you do, you find loopholes to get around it. That's what they're going to do."
Reporter: "My understanding is that if you're a full time employee, which is 35 hours or over, you'd be covered. Or if you're part time then you wouldn't be. So wouldn't some business owners just cut people down like 34 hours a week so they wouldn't have to pay for health insurance?"
Me: "It's common sense. It's what I call lose-lose."
The reporter asked what I believed Papa John's franchisees would do in response to Obamacare, not what Papa John's would do. In fact, her question was "wouldn't some business owners just cut people down like 34 hours a week so they wouldn't have to pay for health insurance?"
My answer: "It's common sense."
During that same interview, talking about Obamacare I said, though it wasn't widely reported:
"The good news is 100% of the population (full-time workers) is going to get health insurance. I'm cool with that."
"We're all going to pay for it. There's nothing for free."
"And this way I get to provide health insurance and I'm not at a competitive disadvantage ... our competitors are going to have to do the same thing."
Papa John's, like most businesses, is still researching what the Affordable Care Act means to our operations. Regardless of the conclusion of our analysis, we will honor this law, as we do all laws, and continue to offer 100% of Papa John's corporate employees and workers in company-owned stores health insurance as we have since the company was founded in 1984.
More at link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-h-schnatter/papa-johns-obamacare_b_2166209.html
This is a picture of Schnatter's popular pizza commercials with fellow Papa Johns owner, quarterback Peyton Manning. The Broncos quarterback regularly gives thousands of dollars to GOP candidates.
Schnatter's multi-million dollar mansion
Looks like backtracking to me. But you guys be the judge.
Lex
(34,108 posts)okwmember
(345 posts)losing business and a declining stock price speak loudly to John. I notice he wasn't so quick to set the record straight when the election was still ongoing.
xtraxritical
(3,576 posts)<quote> "The good news is 100% of the population (full-time workers) is going to get health insurance. I'm cool with that."
"We're all going to pay for it. There's nothing for free." <unquote>
I'm sure he pays not a thin dime and the insurance is probably paid by employee paycheck deductions and has a huge copay and deductible. This guy talks just like that Romney trick.
spanone
(135,838 posts)Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)Keep it up America. This asshole got caught with his pants down, and now wants to take it all back. I hope he goes belly up.
I think there are some governors and some states that will be back-tracking real soon too.
Marr
(20,317 posts)Tippy
(4,610 posts)mwb970
(11,360 posts)graham4anything
(11,464 posts)and Peyton Manning sucks.
as a true NYer...I would not eat chain pizza for any price in the world.
In fact, Pizza it is not. That is why they call it "New York STYLE Pizza"
Cha
(297,248 posts)Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)Exactly, not sure how taco bell is still making it here in San Antonio.
Unknown Beatle
(2,672 posts)But I've had Chicago Style Stuffed Pizza, and it's superb. One of these days I'll go to NY and try a NYSP.
graham4anything
(11,464 posts)Take in/take out
and in NY, eaten the way NYers eat it plain, boiling hot, with no extra ingredients on top(though of course they are available, but the pizza itself plain is amazing.
(btw-see the scenes in the 1970s movie Saturday Night Fever, where John Travolta is eating at Lenny's itself)
and yes, Chicago stuffed pizza is great too.
(as is (like ours) their politics)
here is somebody's youtube showing Travolta at Lenny's (about a minute or so into youtube)
though that double method doesn't have to be done followed by whoever the poster is doing same as John did
Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)DanM
(341 posts)Not certain fully what you mean.
Response to Populist_Prole (Reply #50)
DanM This message was self-deleted by its author.
MADem
(135,425 posts)Best pizza in the world, though?
You'll find that in Napoli, Italia.
Bar none. I speak from considerable experience!
4 more years
(100 posts)Almost any town in Italy. However sitting on a sidewalk cafe in Positano and over looking the sea is heaven. Why are people in Italy so thin ? Cause the food is REAL and they walk alot.
alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)pie.
(Grew up in Queens. Live in Chicago)
You can't get a decent pizza outside of the New York tri-state area. To be fair, you can't get a better hot dog than you can in Chicago, period.
sellitman
(11,606 posts)New Haven Ct.
Look it up.
Frank Pepe
Sally's
Modern
Etc.
Yum!
jpak
(41,758 posts)Panasonic
(2,921 posts)I'd recommend that Manning dump all PJ franchises. Immediately. Start investing on Blackjack's Pizza.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)catbyte
(34,393 posts)klook
(12,155 posts)xtraxritical
(3,576 posts)Bad_Ronald
(265 posts)I'm partial to Spumoni Gardens myself, but Lenny's is legendary. It's one of the few remnants of old 86th st left (remember Jahn's & the Hy Tulip Deli?).
Bensonhurst has changed a lot over the years, but why anyone who lives here would opt to eat those sauce-covered paper plates that Papa John's (or Domino's for that matter) produces over the pizza we can get locally is beyond me.
msongs
(67,406 posts)ChairmanAgnostic
(28,017 posts)BainsBane
(53,032 posts)sandyshoes17
(657 posts)But the one thing it taught us all is the power in numbers. We have the power, we always did. We need to use it more often.
Booster
(10,021 posts)niyad
(113,315 posts)workers, to cut their hours, so you don't have to provide benefits--it's common sense to look for loopholes so you can get around laws regarding your employees.
ummm, johnboy--I think you should have kept your mouth shut, because your attempt to explain yourself, and put yourself in a good light, has angered even MORE people. hmm, on the other hand, KEEP talking--you may talk yourself into bankruptcy and out of that supermansion of yours.
renate
(13,776 posts)Crap! I thought he was so funny and charming on SNL. Darn it.
Myrina
(12,296 posts)He could take a shit on a corner here in Indy & people would build a shrine around it.
Bushfire
(2,974 posts)benefitted from all the years of their groundwork to earn his multi million annual salary. What a hypocrite.
SomethingFishy
(4,876 posts)Yup just checked.. stock is down almost 5%...
Bwhahahahahaha... What a guy, sticking by his values... right up till they cost him money.
KharmaTrain
(31,706 posts)Too late...damage done. Now excuse me while I enjoy a Lou Malnati's pizza...
Sorry...not into catsup on cardboard...
Ed Suspicious
(8,879 posts)Trailrider1951
(3,414 posts)Catsup on cardboard, that sure describes most chain pizza!
wandy
(3,539 posts)Astazia
(262 posts)Soooooooooo where it's this delish pic from?
Michigan Alum
(335 posts)KharmaTrain
(31,706 posts)...Gino's East/West finish a close second...
closeupready
(29,503 posts)barbtries
(28,795 posts)when we (kids and me) were in Chicago in 2003. but i forgot the name of the place. somewhere near the aquarium?
it was really good.
Kyad06
(127 posts)looks great, where is that ?
mzteaze
(448 posts)He didn't seem to feel the need to cry foul weeks ago when there was an assumption that Mittens might win.
Cha
(297,248 posts)now, Schnatter.
sarcasmo
(23,968 posts)xfundy
(5,105 posts)Should have kept your mouth shut. Never getting my business.
mojitojoe
(94 posts)...he'll need to hire more part timers to take up the slack.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)mojitojoe
(94 posts)Now he doesn't remember saying that the Obamacare costs could result in cutting hours. Of course he said that a whole 10 days ago. Who can remember that far back?
[link:http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/11/ceo-papa-john-says-employees-hours-will-likely-be-cut-due-to-obamacare/|
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)If yu know the franchise business, you buy a franchise, meaning you buy the name, the recipes, etc. But you have flexibility to run your business in other ways.
So PJ was saying HE wouldn't do that, as PJs. But that he could see where franchisees might do that, based on what has been done in Hawaii plus it makes sense...it's a loophole to get around the law.
He was just stating a fact about what he thought others might do, which has nothing to do with what he would do.
If you ask ME, I might tell you that franchisees might do that, also. That's just giving an opinion on what someone else might do. Doesn't mean anything.
aquart
(69,014 posts)SemperEadem
(8,053 posts)because he clearly talks about HIS employees, as well as speculating as to what the franchise owners may do:
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/nov/07/papa-johns-ceo-obamacare-likely-to-raise-costs/
About a third of Papa John's employees are covered by the company's health insurance plan, although Schnatter said he has always wanted 100 percent of them on the plan. The rising costs of health insurance, he said, have been a deterrent.
"The good news is 100 percent of the population is going to have health insurance. We're all going to pay for it," he said, estimating the new law would cost the business $5 million to $8 million annually.
Under the Affordable Care Act, full-time employees those working 30 hours or more per week would have to be provided with insurance at companies with more than 50 workers. Schnatter said it was likely that some franchise owners would reduce employees' hours in order to avoid having to cover them.
"That's probably what's going to happen," he said. "It's common sense. That's what I call lose-lose."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/11/ceo-papa-john-says-employees-hours-will-likely-be-cut-due-to-obamacare/#ixzz2CsZfNDcw
The CEO of popular pizza chain Papa John's says his employees may face reduced hours and he expects his business costs to rise because President Obama's re-election most likely insures the president's health care reform law will be implemented in full.
NaplesNews.com reports John Schnatter made the remarks to a small group at Edison State College's Collier County campus the day after the election.
Schnatter, who supported Mitt Romney in the election, said all Americans having health insurance under ObamaCare is a good, but estimates the change will cost Papa John's $5 million to $8 million annually.
Schnatter estimated that these rising costs could adversely affect his workers.
onethatcares
(16,168 posts)who was the "reporter"?????
he's trying the old "i might be sorry if i might have offended anybody but i don't think anybody was offended" bullshit.
boycott his dumb bass.
Bucky
(54,013 posts)He's in a growth industry and he's growing. Now modest government regulations are going to make him and his competitors treat their employees a little bit better.
This is how it should be.
EmeraldCityGrl
(4,310 posts)NC_Nurse
(11,646 posts)aaaaaa5a
(4,667 posts)instead of trying to change, because his guy lost.
bluestateguy
(44,173 posts)Why? Because the law gives the insurance companies 30 million new customers; that will inevitably create jobs, at least some of which will be in the U.S.
Smilo
(1,944 posts)will never be buy pizza from him dipshit that he is.
JohnnyRingo
(18,633 posts)If he now sees which side his pizza dough is buttered on, so what?...We won, and that's what we wanted him to do.
Chalk another one up to the social media that spread the word. This wouldn't have been possible 20 years or so ago.
We do butter pizza dough, don't we?
Panasonic
(2,921 posts)We found a local pizza joint that is about half a mile closer to our house from PJ's and that pizza got my wife's certified "Damn Good Pizza" award.
Called I <3 NY Pizza - http://www.nypizzaden.com
They pay workers full time and have bennies.
azbillyboy
(56 posts)...You might want to skip this first paragraph if you are getting ready to, or are currently, eating.....
But.... I was out doing volunteer work in the National Forest last week. A very good way to knock yourself dead working for no pay and no thanks but it does get you out to some beautiful locales. I share these vistas with a lot of actual free range cattle. As I was working on the road, a large cow crossed out in front of me, raised its tail and left a handsome deposit in the roadway. The first thing I thought of was "Why does Papa John have a franchise way out here....?"
Okay. It sucks as humor but seriously can we go back to the beginning of this story for a minute?
Poppy said he would be forced to raise the price of his pizzas by fifteen cents because of the OCA.
FIFTEEN FUCKING CENTS?
WTF is that?
When I was a kid it was a daily fine at the library for an overdue book (how many people even remember real books?)
Or a triple decker ice cream cone at the local Rexall Drug store (only chocolate, vanilla or strawberry; no 31 flavors bullshite!).
So if Poppy John said he would have to raise the price of one of his cowflop pizzas by $5, then he might have an argument; I mean, who would pay that price for a turd on a piece of cardboard?
But fifteen cents? Today fifteen cents isn't even pocket change. His claim is so f--king stupid as to deny all rationality! Or did I miss something? BTW I knew this guy was a real d#kwad from a long time ago; a total Reich winger in the same house as the troglodyte who owns Dominos Pizza.
Locrian
(4,522 posts)But that's just it. That's the problem with being so 'big' - the 15 cents per pizza - when you are scarffing up all the money for yourself - adds up.
It's whats wrong with the large business mentality. They see that and multiply it out, and since it goes to THEIR pocket they HATE it when they cant suck it all up.
Same reason they cut ingredients, shave a penny off slave labor wage kids, etc. It's all backwards - instead of spreading the profit around and seeing that a few cents can make a dramatic difference for the workers, they grad the whole wad for themselves.
It's pretty much THE definition of greed.
Myrina
(12,296 posts)n/t
Hugin
(33,148 posts)DemoTex
(25,397 posts)pacalo
(24,721 posts)central scrutinizer
(11,649 posts)just another repug
aaaaaa5a
(4,667 posts)He also gave as much as 12,000 dollars to various GOP candidates in 2012.
olegramps
(8,200 posts)Elway boycotted the trip to the White House after their Super bowl win because the president was a Democrat. They are a couple of dick head buddies.
Kyad06
(127 posts)Used to be the Cowboys and Yankees but these repigs make me sick
colorado_ufo
(5,734 posts)not a brain trust.
aletier_v
(1,773 posts)central scrutinizer
(11,649 posts)not that I would ever order ketchup on cardboard anyway.
octoberlib
(14,971 posts)What took him so long? He could have released this statement the day after it was reported he'd be firing people. Asshat.
geomon666
(7,512 posts)Which means he will cut team hours just as soon as the media hoopla calms down thanks to his "retraction".
he cuts team hours, He cuts back opportunities to earn money. That is simple logic for his business. Just think about it. He needs drivers, to deliver his pizzas and his performance does depend on service the same as those NFL refs.
Lint Head
(15,064 posts)for the environment.
Rex
(65,616 posts)He won't see a dime from me or my friends that once use to swamp the local PJ in SA. I hope he ends up in the garbage bin of life along with his stupid friend Manning. Keep pretending to care!
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)Myrina
(12,296 posts)... to work on the 'recipes' so if we ever DO decide to buy his product again, it will taste like pizza and not crap on cardboard.
truebrit71
(20,805 posts)...I prefer my local joint...
SCVDem
(5,103 posts)Damage Control, Report!
She'e taking on water!
So Captain John tries his best tap dance to obfuscate the facts.
Sink you turd!
santamargarita
(3,170 posts)I'm going to send him my FUCK YOU resume.
closeupready
(29,503 posts)It's not like anyone wished a boycott on Papa Johns. It didn't happen spontaneously.
catbyte
(34,393 posts)Aristus
(66,379 posts)I'm never buying Papa John's pizza again. Unlike some posters here, I thought the pizza wasn't too bad. But I like the thought of respect for the workers more than I like the pizza. So backtrack all you want. I'm done with you...
joanbarnes
(1,722 posts)mwb970
(11,360 posts)I actually have to drive past a Donato's to pick up a pizza at Papa John's. AND I like the Donato's pizza better! So that's it for the Papa.
Justkd1
(64 posts)Greed is killing this country...
Blue Owl
(50,383 posts)n/t
Flashmann
(2,140 posts)Reprehensible piece of shit,who has never benefited from my patronage...And never will....
BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)Other than the store managers, almost everybody else is part time already. And they all work from separate franchised small businesses -- and many of them are small enough that they get ASSISTANCE under the ACA.
The guy is a first rate dumbass. He shot his mouth off about something that didn't even affect him and now he has created a major PR problem.
SemperEadem
(8,053 posts)and I do not believe his re-write of recent history.
The only reason why he's saying what he's saying is because his stocks lost over $100k in share value... which means the board of directors snatched a knot in his ass and probably told him to go fix this mess or he would be replaced as the ceo of the company.
Kablooie
(18,634 posts)How many of these rich guys live in the Fox News fairyland and have no idea what the majority of America thinks?
Pakid
(478 posts)Greed always wins with these jack asses Every thing they do comes with a price tag I guess it cost less to insure his worker than what he stands to lose by running his big mouth!
louis-t
(23,295 posts)back to overcharging for shitty pizza.
LynneSin
(95,337 posts)Nuff said
Plucketeer
(12,882 posts)that's where I take a firm stand!
Kyad06
(127 posts)We don't eat chain pizza or seafood BTW Papa John is introducing some new topic options inspired by his employees lack of health care :lung chip, flemball and fecal material crust
Ineeda
(3,626 posts)has caused the hotshot to "walk back" his statements, too. Another poor, misunderstood asshole who really, really, really didn't mean what he said (now that there's been a negative financial impact.)
KG
(28,751 posts)Crowman1979
(3,844 posts)Give me a square pizza any day of the week.
behindenemylins
(41 posts)Located in Lyndhurst, Ohio...where their own Josh Mandel was cremated in favor of Sherrod Brown.
Family owned, sponsor of numerous local little leagues, great prices, respectable atmosphere and only three pieces go a very long way.
Whereas, Papa Johns is only good for getting up at 3AM with a desert in your mouth and sweat-inducing gut pains only cured by a trip to the facilities. Not saying that for joke either.
Kolesar
(31,182 posts)Little shop with the Tribe game on.
I remember the sausage sandwich as their specialty.
ReRe
(10,597 posts)... love means never having to say you're sorry. Once you say it, you can't take it back. These guys never learned adages like these when they were growing up. My guess is that they were spoiled brats, and bullies to boot. If I was that man, with all of money and mini Disneyland, I would kiss the feet of my customers AND employees. I don't eat pizza, period. So he never got any of my money anyway. But, I still hope he never recovers from his Freudian foot-in-mouth slip.
Pumpkin pies out of the oven, out of here now----------->>>>>>>
southern_belle
(1,647 posts)If you have that mentality to begin with, I have that stubborn mentality to never order another Papa John's pizza!
JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)Great. Hundreds of locations more where Americans can buy really cheaply made crap that is really bad for them! Buy more nutrition free "food" and lots of it! Get even fatter and then go to the doctor for glandular problems.
Oy.
Julie
Marje
(38 posts)Papa Johns has lost my business FOREVER!
RedCappedBandit
(5,514 posts)Your shitty pizza won't be missed.
Don C. Nuttin
(84 posts)krakfiend
(202 posts)it's pretty obvious, he is laying off all full time workers and switching to all temp workers, thus he needs more part timers than full timers. that way he doesn't have to pay them insurance.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)It's quite easy to believe that the media would hype part of an interview while dropping the bits that go against the spin they're trying to give it. They do it all the time.
I really don't see what's so controversial. That's what business owners do; they try to find ways around things that cost them money.
aaaaaa5a
(4,667 posts)If the storyline has mischaracterized or exaggerated what he said.... why did he only wait until a few days ago to correct it?
This story was being used by right wing media as a campaign weapon against the President. And he had no problem with it, until his side lost. And apparently his pizza chains started losing money.
My bet is that if Romney had won, this sudden correction never would have been made.
Do you have any doubt who he voted for? Papa Johns is just like Walmart. Another 1% doing everything he can to hold the 99% down. Even if it means the country must suffer as a result.
I will never order Papa Johns pizza again.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)it operates in and the biggest employer in both the us & the world.
papa johns is chickenfeed.
i don't care why he waited to correct the record; point is, the record doesn't say anything but the obvious.
why people got irate about such a statement i have no clue. i suspect hype from the democratic PR machine, myself.
aaaaaa5a
(4,667 posts)But the principles of the governing bodies are the same. Neither cares much for their workers.
NICO9000
(970 posts)Schantter is richer than God while his "teammates" earn virtually nothing.