They already have more loopholes then can be written in a 10,000 page book

He isn't saying which way he wants them to come together, just that they should make a deal.

Of course by waiting, Democrats will get everything they want out of any deal that gets made in January. We will no longer have to make any compromise at all, right? It is all going to go our way if we wait.

Right.

Saying make a deal is inherently political. There are a lot of people who won't like the deal, for whom it won't align with their politics.

Starbucks is also buying "Come Together" ads in DC papers that cite Fix The Debt -- which wants to lower corporate tax rates and cut Social Security benefits as part of the deal.

It might sound like an innocuous phrase, but then so again is Drill Baby Drill. It means something in D.C. right now.

the whole thing NOT 'wildly inappropriate' is this part of the article from CNN:

"The spokesman added that Schultz's request to write "Come Together" on coffee cups is voluntary and that employees are not required to participate if it makes them "uncomfortable.""

It's not mandatory.

employees to lobby the public on a political matter at their workplace.

just *asking* already has somple implicit element of coercion in it.

means that everything is going to be magically delicious come January. Personally, I think we have to compromise either way and no matter what deal gets struck, people here are going to go apeshit. And after the 1st, we will not only have economic repercussions from going over the cliff (AMT patch expiring, loss of consumer confidence, loss of global confidence, possible downgrade of credit rating, etc) we are STILL going to have a deal that cuts the things that Dems don't want cut.

You have no right to have a corporate CEO tell his employees to have this view. And don't tell me it's "voluntary." Which employee wants to "volunteer" to stand up and say the billionaire CEO is wrong and risk their job?

They just have to NOT write something on a cup.

God, if you rise to this level of outrage over things this small, your blood pressure must be off the charts.

being told to do something against their values by a billionaire CEO

I just hates me some minimum wage workers.

Or maybe I am experiencing outrage burnout. I do not have an endless supply of outrage to tap like you do and I am starting to have to pick and choose. I choose not to be outraged over a CEO asking employees to voluntarily write 'come together' on a fucking coffee cup. I find it somewhat inappropriate. I readily accept that there are employees who will feel pressured and that is not good. I am not off to write my poster to picket the nearest Starbuck's, though, and I don't see the point of writing a post designed to engender the maximum amount of angst by leaving out a key portion of the article and inferring that the CEO is deliberately trying to sway Congress so that his company can pay lower taxes.

He might be trying to sway Congress to come to a deal because he thinks going over the fiscal cliff is BAD and that Congress displaying a total inability to do what they are there for is BAD.

And I get a little sick and tired of the breast beating martyrs on here who make assumptions about anybody who doesn't agree with them 100%. I happen to be a self-employed person who WISHES I made minimum wage. With the hours I put into my business, we wouldn't have any financial problems if I did.

I suggest you calm down

But I guess assumptions and misleading posts are OK, huh??

Good point.


I am getting a little tired of being told what I think by people who have no idea what they are talking about. Your assertion that I have no empathy for minimum wage employees was incorrect and out of line. THAT did get me a little outraged. I find the level of outrage exhibited for a voluntary request a little out of proportion. Particularly a request that does not ask employees to tout a particular viewpoint, that is merely asking Congress to do what they have been sent to Washington to do....govern.

What if you don't want a deal? It's a valid view to hold. Especially when we don't know what's in the deal.

Does anybody really think that Starbuck's is going to punish workers who don't write anything?

And we are either getting a deal (whether we get it now or we get it in a month) or we are living with sequestration. I have yet to hear anybody who says they want to just go over the cliff and then live with the sequestration. Everybody seems to think that we are going to get a better deal in January. Which might be true. But no matter what, the cliff WILL cause a problem. I have a customer who estimates that JUST the failure to pass an AMT patch will cost him $30,000 THIS year. Before April 15. The AMT patch is retroactive and it's not being passed kicks in immediately and raises the taxes owed THIS year for 75% of Americans. At least that is what I have read.

My family will not be directly effected by that, but since many of my customers will be, I am afraid it is going to hurt my business. We are JUST NOW starting to gain back some of the ground we lost during the recession. I am worried that the people that think that no deal is a good deal are not thinking ahead very well.

Have you ever had a job before? See the update. The employees hate it.

and that includes a Chili's meu.

Politics should NEVER intrude into the workplace. Period.

When they say they are putting out voluntary ideas to employees. Employees are not going to ignore their own CEO. They are being pressured. Why did he only send these instructions to the D.C. stores otherwise? It's a stealth lobbying campaign.

They'll call this voluntary. How about this. If you're a CEO, don't say ANYTHING to your employees about politics. Just. Shut. Up.

Now, I do understand the case that they may feel pressured by the CEO making a suggestion, but it was a suggestion, not an order.

..trust me you don't want to be the one guy at work who doesn't do it.

I work in the DC area and I'm already hearing reports of employees who are upset about this.

It's an ignorant use of CEO influence but it probably makes no difference whatsoever to the employees. If they want, they can say, "Sure, I made a suggestion."

Of course the best answer should be, "Mind your own fucking business!"

But let's remember minimum wage employees are not going to have a lot of incentive to stand up. Starbucks is an anti-union company that suppresses its employees' rights let's never forget that part of it.

...to avoid Starbucks like the plague.