Obamacare a Threat to White Castle and IHOP. This Time, It’s Personal


Oh, that’s right. Obamacare, filled with stealth Nanny State penalties and taxes aimed at further controlling your life, is now threatening the yummy eats found at White Castle and IHOP, among others.

The Columbus-based family owned restaurant chain – known for serving small square hamburgers called “sliders” – says a single provision in the bill will eat up roughly 55 percent of its yearly net income after 2014.

Starting that year, the bill levies a $3,000-per-employee penalty on companies whose workers pay more than 9.5 percent of household income in premiums for company-provided insurance.

White Castle, which currently provides insurance to all of its full-time workers and picks up 70 to 89 percent of their premium costs, believes it will likely end up paying those penalties. The financial hit will make it hard for the company to maintain its 421 restaurants, let alone create new jobs, says company spokesman Jamie Richardson. White Castle employs more than 10,000 people nationwide, and more than 1,200 in Ohio.

This is just another “in” for some controlling bureaucrat-y sour pusses who are wanting to get all up in our stuff. Pry my sliders out of my cold, dead hands! I suggest a new slogan: “No Grease, No Peace!” Someone has to speak up for our delicious eateries. In fact, it would be Un-American to do otherwise. You know this isn’t one of those ‘unintended consequences’, only discovered once we were finally allowed to find out what was in the bill – that had to be passed first. It is clearly an intended consequence.

The ‘laser-like focus’ on jobs has proven to be a laser-like focus on killing all jobs in industries that the Obama administration deems icky and evil. Including the restaurant industry, particularly the fast food segment of the same. Remember, Michelle Obama has her war on childhood obesity and says that fat kids are a national security threat. I don’t think she’s really being fair there. While her husband is childishly naive and immature, he isn’t fat by any means.

Every time I feed my 7 year old daughter chicken nuggets, I now wonder if I should turn her in as a dangerous threat to this nation. To the Obama administration, donuts equal terrorism and fast food restaurants are, therefore, equivalent to jihadist training camps. And we common rubes obviously fall prey to their nefarious schemes without the aid of Big Daddy Government jumping in to save us. So we lose our jobs? Big whoop! At least we’ll be thin when we do so!

And that is what it’s all about; Big Daddy Government. Besides the new penalties put in place, there are also menu mandates that place a financial burden on many companies. Mary Katherine Hamm points it out over at The Weekly Standard:

Adding new menu boards, drive-through menus, a menus is an expensive prospect, especially when even advocates of menu labeling can point to no evidence that it actually works.White Castle has been offering health care to its employees since 1924. It pays 70-90 percent of health-care costs for those employees. The company cannot be considered one of the health-care system’s bad actors, even by the most ludicrous lefty’s standards. But when good behavior is punished, you will not get more of it. Now, the company says it will consider dropping employee-based coverage and putting employees in federal exchanges— a scenario which, before Obamacare passed, was considered a paranoid right-wing talking point.

Sigh. Democrats, stop destroying our livelihoods and leave our penchant for excess alone. It is a personal decision, a lifestyle choice, or perhaps even a deathstyle choice. (I’m talking to you, Death Panels. I’d rather have deep-fried bacon-wrapped macaroni and cheese than a little blue pill) We like, you know, being employed. And we also like our greasy, salty food. Yet, we still remain some of the richest and most productive of people – weird, huh? Funny how freedom, and that free market thing, works.

Give me liberty or give me death! Or, give me liberty and death. My stomach, my choice!

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(cross-posted from NewsReal)


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33 Comments Leave a comment

Disaster.

jporter1776 Friday, July 9th at 3:55PM EST (link)

Clearly Obama either has no clue on the economy or is doing this all on purpose. Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if it is all calculated. We’ve got to stop this guy… I don’t want to lose my sliders, either!

Limited government, individual freedoms, and free markets: Constitutional principles that are worth the fight! 1776challenge.com

 

Of course

grinlap Friday, July 9th at 4:29PM EST (link)

it’s an intended consequence. Two birds with one health care bill; the fast food place can’t afford to pay the freight so the customers get thin because there’s no more fast food and the (former) employees get thin because they can’t buy food any more.

The UNintended consequence is all the pollution that will result from folks driving around looking for the last White Castle…..

 

Maine screws us again

dpddj Friday, July 9th at 4:42PM EST (link)

If my business were in neighboring New Hampshire where med insurance premiums run close to half of those here (nanny state and all its mandates) this would not affect me. Since our rates are so socialistically high, I automatically fall into the $3000 penalty condition.

On a brighter note, I was at a luncheon in Portland ME today where Marco Rubio was the speaker. Massive turnout in support of him. His talk was going so smoothly I kept looking for his telepromter. Not a note to refer to – this guy is incredible. Marco reiterated that the burdens on businesses in Obamacare WILL lead to companies taking the penalty rather than paying the premium. I am pretty much there and will likely follow that route in this economy – it’s called business survival.

 

Is the death of business healthy?

wilfranc Friday, July 9th at 6:29PM EST (link)

If it is, it looks like we are going to get really healthy in the next year or so.

 

I haven't had a slider since 1968

eastbaylarry (Diary) Friday, July 9th at 7:04PM EST (link)

but only because the White Castle franchise never made it to California. I still remember those sliders fondly.

2+2=4 dammit!

 

Never had Sliders

pamela1631 (Diary) Friday, July 9th at 7:39PM EST (link)

And IHOP is ok, but if Obama and his cloven-hoofed minions keep on their chosen path, all that will be left to eat in this country is tree bark and grass. If we’re lucky.
Though all that fiber is supposed to be good for you.
Really.

Michelle has to be behind this section of the bill.

This republic was not established by cowards; and cowards will not preserve it. ~~Elmer Davis

I am stone forged from the fires of creation into flesh ~~Pamela1631

The greatest civilization is one where all citizens are equally armed and can only be persuaded, never forced.~~Maj. L. Caudill, USMC (Ret.)

Not quite

Menlo (Diary) Friday, July 9th at 9:47PM EST (link)

Despite required labeling, the federal government has yet to define the term “fiber.” Leave it to the Democrats to make more nutritional guidelines when they can’t manage the ones they’ve got.

“The ultimate touchstone of constitutionality is the Constitution itself and not what we have said about it.” -Felix Frankfurter

 
 

LOL, Lori! Keep keeping it fair and balanced.

SoFiMil (Diary) Friday, July 9th at 8:30PM EST (link)

“Michelle Obama has her war on childhood obesity and says that fat kids are a national security threat. I don’t think she’s really being fair there. While her husband is childishly naive and immature, he isn’t fat by any means.”

www.suvstrategery.blogspot.com

what do you bet

pamela1631 (Diary) Friday, July 9th at 8:36PM EST (link)

she smacks his hand every time he reaches for a krispy kreme donut.

I bet his secret service guys have to sneak them in.

This republic was not established by cowards; and cowards will not preserve it. ~~Elmer Davis

I am stone forged from the fires of creation into flesh ~~Pamela1631

The greatest civilization is one where all citizens are equally armed and can only be persuaded, never forced.~~Maj. L. Caudill, USMC (Ret.)

 

Barry is like any other fun-loving husband...

trutexan Monday, July 12th at 6:24AM EST (link)

and he sneaks into fast food and greasy spoons when he’s out on the road. I bet that drives the real brains in that family absolutely nuts! What I would give to be a fly on the wall when he gets home…

“Seriously? Why do you HAVE to go to those places? An in front of reporters!! Here I am trying to brain-wash the country into believing that fat is evil, and what do I see on TV? Your butt jawing it up with the locals in front of a plate of burgers and fries! Are you INSANE? What the hell are you thinking? I swear! My mother told me you were stupid…”

I was anti-Obama before it was cool.

 

Barry is like any other fun-loving husband...

trutexan Monday, July 12th at 6:24AM EST (link)

and he sneaks into fast food and greasy spoons when he’s out on the road. I bet that drives the real brains in that family absolutely nuts! What I would give to be a fly on the wall when he gets home…

“Seriously? Why do you HAVE to go to those places? An in front of reporters!! Here I am trying to brain-wash the country into believing that fat is evil, and what do I see on TV? Your butt jawing it up with the locals in front of a plate of burgers and fries! Are you INSANE? What the hell are you thinking? I swear! My mother told me you were stupid…”

I was anti-Obama before it was cool.

 
 

I don't get it.

Menlo (Diary) Friday, July 9th at 9:59PM EST (link)

Why even bother offering “health insurance?” Isn’t the tax cheaper?

Anyone with a lick of common sense would know that such a proposal will do nothing to help control people’s food choices. But we’re dealing with Democrats. Anyone who eats at these places enough to have his or her health adversely affected certainly isn’t going to take time to read, let alone consider, the expanded menus.

I’m sure if Michelle Obama had her way, it would be like they do at schools in the UK. Overweight children are sent to “fat camps,” and those such as myself who fall below the normal range get sent to “skinny camps.”

“The ultimate touchstone of constitutionality is the Constitution itself and not what we have said about it.” -Felix Frankfurter

 

Did you know that Flagstaff doesn't have a single

Flagstaff (Diary) Friday, July 9th at 10:16PM EST (link)

donut shop? The last one went out of business a couple of years ago.

That’s right, not a Dunkin’ Donuts store in town, not a Krispy Kreme. There are bakeries, with their fancy cakes and dry crullers, but if you want a real donut here, you make it yourself or buy it at Safeway.

Oh, the humanity!!!!

“The press is so powerful in its image-making role that it can make a criminal look like he’s the victim and make the victim look like he’s the criminal. If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”– Malcolm X, Audubon Ballroom, December 13, 1964

This could finally be the issue that separates 0

cactusjack Saturday, July 10th at 10:25PM EST (link)

from his old guard faithful 20% base. Americans of every background imaginable, love the stuff. Even on their worst days and feeling guilty after the latest 20/20 expose, it’s still a love-hate relationship.

 

thankfully, 'staff can escape to Dixie and the good life anytime, so don't cry for Flag'... - nt

Mike gamecock DeVine (Diary) Saturday, July 10th at 10:28PM EST (link)

Mike DeVine’s Examiner.com, Charlotte Observer and The Minority Report columns
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson

Heading there in a couple of weeks.

Flagstaff (Diary) Saturday, July 10th at 10:45PM EST (link)

I think there’s still a Krispy Kreme shop open on Kingston Pike.

(Moonbats take note–there were three capital K‘s in that sentence.)

“The press is so powerful in its image-making role that it can make a criminal look like he’s the victim and make the victim look like he’s the criminal. If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”– Malcolm X, Audubon Ballroom, December 13, 1964

 
 
 

I only eat White Castle once a year...

acat (Diary) Saturday, July 10th at 2:10AM EST (link)

But, thanks to this bit of stupid, I’m going to have to up that a little… while they last…

Mew

——
self-portrait

“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost”. –Tolkein

 

I'm with you, Lori

RedBeard Saturday, July 10th at 8:48PM EST (link)

Nobody had better interfere with the availability of Belly Bombers. Nobody. This means war.

Standard-bearer for grouchy curmudgeonry since, oh, 1975 or so.

 

How'd I miss this diary ?

Kenny Solomon (Diary) Saturday, July 10th at 9:20PM EST (link)

I grew up a White Castle kid in NY. Any reason, any excuse. Gimme at least 6 with cheese.

Still.

To this day.

I live near Ft. Lauderdale Florida and the closest WC to me is in Nashville TN….. Believe me, I’ve seriously considered a road trip more than once.

The company also owns Church’s Fried Chicken – those we have down here.

We also have one or two people living down here – ahhhh, maybe it’s three or four people – from the North-Eastern quadrant of the nation who are of the same mind as me…… Where’s my dang WC I can go to at 3am for a fix ?

The company knows the demographic and the real honest and true ‘crave’ as they market it is absolutely real.

So thanks to (gasp) Capitalism and American Exceptionalism in production, manufacturing, logistics and many other things, I can walk into my local stupormarket or the big box stores and purchase as many as I want. There’s always a full monster box of ‘em in the freezer at my home.

I also figured out really fast how to git-r-done and have ‘em be EXACTLY as they are in the restaurants…….. Steam ‘em in the microwave, don’t just nuke ‘em…… No secret – anyone want the scoop, let me know.

Now then, why the long-winded lead in to what I want to actually say as a comment to Lori’s fantastic (as always) diary ?

Simple.

——————

Dear Dictator In Training Pants:

Keep your friggin’ administration’s hands off our White Castles.

Wars have started over much less.

Sincerely,

Kenneth L Solomon
Six with cheese, ketchup and extra pickles.

—————

Go ahead.

Y’all laugh.

Just don’t get between me and my WC’s.

And get out of the way if somebody else does.

Kenny, I need 'the scoop'!

mriggio (Diary) Monday, July 12th at 11:47AM EST (link)

My nuked frozen sliders suck. If you’re not wanting to share on-line, hit me at:
m(underscore)riggio at comcast dot net

I await your reheating recipe with bated breath!

(Transplanted ex-Chicagoan 3 hours from nearest W/C).

mriggio
SMSgt, USAF (Ret)
Precinct Committeeman (R)
Tazewell County, Illinois
Save the Cheerleader Party, save the World! (Heroes, ed.)

Done -- Sent....... nt

Kenny Solomon (Diary) Monday, July 12th at 12:23PM EST (link)
 
 
 

That'll cost em

tragiconda Saturday, July 10th at 9:29PM EST (link)

People are defensive about their sliders.
I had 5 cheeseburgers (no onions) and fries last night for 5.19$

 

Lori, you're not gonna believe the two articles I'm linking here...... Then again..........

Kenny Solomon (Diary) Saturday, July 10th at 10:28PM EST (link)

Oh man, cancer really sucks, but it’s definitely beatable with the proper doctors, the amazing advances in medications and aggressive treatments, plus of course the patient’s own good vibes can have something to do wi…………… WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT ?!?

Got cancer ?……. The government will soon say to go out and have fun……. That’ll cure it……… Because they’re not gonna pay for it.

You’re about to see the first tangible lead in to Obamacare stopping treatments for cancer…… You think I’m kidding, don’t you ?

Socialising and having fun can shrink cancer tumours, a study has found. The research, in mice, lends weight to claims that mental states play an important role in cancer, say scientists.

———————–

Of course a patient’s mental state is important. But not at the expense of something that’s also treatable medically with our amazing health care people and technology.

These Statist Totalitarian Marxist Jihadi sycophants think we’re all a bunch of uber-schmucks and will fall for anything.

====================

But wait, there’s more.

====================

Got fat kids ?

Don’t let ‘em exercise.

Really.

Stop ‘em.

It’s an order from the state.

I know what they said yesterday, but that was yesterday.

Exercise ‘won’t cure child obesity’.

Researchers said the findings indicate that nutrition, rather than exercise, is the best way of tackling childhood obesity.

The EarlyBird team followed more than 200 children in Plymouth over three years, monitoring their fat and exercise levels at regular intervals.

———————–

Know who some of the research subjects were ? How about the citizens with the government video/audio surveillance systems in their homes, tracking everything.

 

Adding more to my daily habits...

jcincy Saturday, July 10th at 10:52PM EST (link)

Stop at IHOP for breakfast on the way to work.
Hit up White Castle for lunch (my closest co-workers my not want to be close anymore).
Fill up at BP on the way home.
Stop in the at the gun shop and pickup ammo.
Attend a week night church session clinging to my Bible.

“Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” — John Jay

 

COME ON CAN'T WE JUST SUPPORT PRESIDENT OBAMA?

jetjock4425 Monday, July 12th at 7:02AM EST (link)

>> As a rule I usually do not offer a means to support politicians
>> or issues that often come to us all. BUT this IS EXTREMELY
>> IMPORTANT. It has been seen, read and signed by over
>> 25 million people in the last 18 months! And we sure
>> don’t want to lose any names on the list so be sure to
>> pass this on and around to all of your friends, family
>> and acquaintances right away.
>> So please keep it going! To show your support for
>> President Obama, just go to the end of the list
>> and add your name at the first unassigned number.
>>
>>
>> 1. Michelle Obama.
>> 2.

Insanity

wemadeamistake Monday, July 12th at 10:38AM EST (link)

In just 14 months, Obama has added $5 Billion per day of debt to our children……3 times that of Bush’s entire 8 year term [Washington Times - June 3, 2010]

 

laughed till I cried. nt

alamo294 Tuesday, July 13th at 3:20PM EST (link)
 
 

Sliders first, Big Mac is next.

timchgo9 (Diary) Monday, July 12th at 9:34AM EST (link)

Count on it.

Unfortunately there are enough stupid people in this country who think that Obama is the best president ever, and they will do whatever he wants.

I would love nothing more than to see him turned into a lame duck come November, and then routed out of office two years after that, Unfortunately, that damage that he has done will take ten years to undo…..

“Chairman of the Awkward Squad”

 

They are destroying our quality of life

Warrior (Diary) Monday, July 12th at 9:52AM EST (link)

Slowly , but surely. First, 40% of the nations’ oysters come from the Gulf. Much of its’ seafood also comes from the Gulf.

Behind seafood, my next favorite food is White Castles, then pancakes, blintzes and pigs in a blanket.

Now let me get this straight, cigarette smoker Obama is lecturing us about our health? What a crock.

He needs to stand up to Michelle and say, “Down girl! Sit! Sit! I am the president now. You just behave…”

Maybe we should all send him a pack of nicorette gum…

“Racial criteria are irrational, irrelevant, [and] odious to our way of life.” — Thurgood Marshall for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in the 1950 Supreme Court case of McLaurin v. Oklahoma

 

More Health Care Bill Bad News

wemadeamistake Monday, July 12th at 10:33AM EST (link)

Many of my fellow Americans don’t know that there is a hidden tax in the new health care law that taxes you 3.8% on the sale of your home. Yep, if you sell your $400K home, you must pay $15,000 from the sale. The people behind writing this bill our leftist 60′s radicals who want redistribution with Obama’s blessing and they continue to hide their activities, which is why Pelosi, Reid, Obama all want bills signed without the American people knowing what is in the bill! It was never about health care folks. It was and is about redistribution. That is Obama’s goal and he doesn’t care what happens to the nation in order to achieve it.

Do you have the section of the bill that says that?

izoneguy (Diary) Monday, July 12th at 10:36AM EST (link)

Send it to the National Association of Realtors. Their lobby will jump all over this. Where does the 3.8% go? The government has screwed up housing to the point where people are not as excited about being home owners.

The point cannot be made often enough: Modern liberalism, as embodied in the Obama presidency, is the defender of the status quo. And the status quo is a road to economic ruin. Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce.

A 3.8 Percent “Sales Tax” on Your Home?

izoneguy (Diary) Monday, July 12th at 10:41AM EST (link)

http://www.factcheck.org/2010/04/a-38-percent-sales-tax-on-your-home/

we checked with William Ahern, director of policy and communications for the nonprofit, pro-business Tax Foundation. “Some home sales would see a tax increase under this bill,” Ahern told us, “but it would have to be a second home or a principal residence generating [a gain of] more than $250,000 ($500,000 for a couple).”

So there you have it. The sort of people who would have to pay the tax might include, for example:
A single executive making $210,000 a year who sells his $300,000 ski condo for a $50,000 profit. His tax on the sale of that vacation home would amount to $1,900, in addition to the capital gains tax he would have paid anyway.

An “empty nester” couple with combined income of over $250,000 a year who sell their $1 million primary residence to move to smaller quarters. If they cleared $600,000 on the sale, they would be taxed on $100,000 of the profit (the amount over the half-million-dollar exclusion). Their health care tax on the sale would amount to $3,800 over and above the usual capital gains levy.

However, a typical home sale would not incur any tax. In March, for example, half of all existing homes sold for $170,700 or less, according to the National Association of Realtors. Obviously, none of those sales could possibly generate a $250,000 profit, and so none would be subject to the tax.

Thus, for the vast majority, the 3.8 percent tax won’t apply. The Tax Foundation, in a report released April 15, said the new tax on investment income (including real estate) “will hit approximately the top-earning two percent of families” when it takes effect in 2013.

The point cannot be made often enough: Modern liberalism, as embodied in the Obama presidency, is the defender of the status quo. And the status quo is a road to economic ruin. Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce.

The history of the Alternative Minimum Tax is enlightening here... nt

acat (Diary) Monday, July 12th at 12:08PM EST (link)

——
self-portrait

“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost”. –Tolkein