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bigtree

(85,971 posts)
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 03:18 PM Jun 2014

Obama Visits Chipotle Ahead of Working Family Summit

Last edited Mon Jun 23, 2014, 07:50 PM - Edit history (2)


Larry Downing/Reuters

President Barack Obama celebrated the White House's Working Families summit Monday by treating himself to some Mexican food at Chipotle.

According to a pool report, Obama dined with several working-class Americans in the center of the restaurant, surrounded by a "surprised lunchtime crowd."



AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN


Obama's lunchtime companions included Roger Trombley, a 37-year-old safety engineer at Ford Motor Co. in Michigan; Shelby Ramirez, a 50-year-old single mom from Colorado; and Shirley Young, who emigrated from Trinidad to the Bronx in 1969.



Obama Diary/Twitter


Lisa Rumain of Johnson & Johnson, who will introduce Obama at the Working Families event, also joined him for lunch.

Over the years, Chipotle has earned a good reputation for allowing entry-level employees to move into the ranks of management and earn relatively high salaries. The restaurant provides health insurance and paid vacations to employees.

The pool reporter was only briefly allowed to view Obama's Chipotle lunch and did not report on what he ate. However, the report did note Obama was overheard saying that when companies treat employees right "businesses benefit and the economy benefits."




Zeke Miller @ZekeJMiller · 2h
Obama: "It’s been a while since I had a burrito bowl—and it was good . . . I just walked over to Chipotles for lunch. I caused a lot of havoc" https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/481132747524935680





tannercurtis @tannercurtis · 1h
Taking a move from @VP playbook MT @dougmillsnyt: Shades on...Obama departs Chipotle following lunch away from 1600.


tod


watch:




40 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Obama Visits Chipotle Ahead of Working Family Summit (Original Post) bigtree Jun 2014 OP
I'll bet the Secret Service agents were carrying KamaAina Jun 2014 #1
heh, just looking at this bigtree Jun 2014 #4
Damn that they had one scheduled in the first place. Cha Jun 2014 #11
Scratching my head with that one Iliyah Jun 2014 #24
Objection! "by treating himself to some Mexican food at Chipotle." KamaAina Jun 2014 #2
This message was self-deleted by its author Warren DeMontague Jun 2014 #12
Not much of what we get in America IS real Mexican. riqster Jun 2014 #26
That's the righteous truth. ChazInAz Jun 2014 #40
no info on what combination he got ? JI7 Jun 2014 #3
via The Wire bigtree Jun 2014 #6
The SS guy in the last pic is a cutie too but if he's trying to be cool like the boss, FAIL!!! I monmouth3 Jun 2014 #5
those guys are all business bigtree Jun 2014 #7
Good point, monmouth.. "love that he can cause havoc, it keeps people on their toes and drives the Cha Jun 2014 #14
» bigtree Jun 2014 #8
update: videos in op bigtree Jun 2014 #9
Thanks for the huge thread on President Obama's visit to Chipotle, bigtree.. Cha Jun 2014 #10
hi, Cha! Here's a Souza bigtree Jun 2014 #15
Yummm I like pics of food and the President! Cha Jun 2014 #16
Repugs have been complaining all morning about this. louis-t Jun 2014 #30
Just because they won't associate with the President or VP doesn't mean the Cha Jun 2014 #33
Whoa, he reached over the glass!! Michigander_Life Jun 2014 #18
That's so funny! BlueEye Jun 2014 #23
Chipotlegate! Cha Jun 2014 #35
This message was self-deleted by its author Warren DeMontague Jun 2014 #13
Alright then.. Cha Jun 2014 #17
Give Q'doba a try (if there's one in your area) SnowCritter Jun 2014 #22
This message was self-deleted by its author Warren DeMontague Jun 2014 #32
We're talkin' really fast food! Cha Jun 2014 #34
Tweets from #FamilesSucceed.. Cha Jun 2014 #19
I teared up a little at the last one... betsuni Jun 2014 #20
LOL.. that should have been Cha Jun 2014 #21
K & R Iliyah Jun 2014 #25
Great thread bigtree! sheshe2 Jun 2014 #27
Patronizing a giant corporate chain rather than a small local business Dopers_Greed Jun 2014 #28
A side of awesome sauce with that burrito! Blue Owl Jun 2014 #29
Why does the right wing hate President Obama so? Botany Jun 2014 #31
The one I used to patronize was on M at about 20th St. NW in downtown DC. amandabeech Jun 2014 #36
Six years too late. zentrum Jun 2014 #37
I completely agree with your statements. PowerToThePeople Jun 2014 #38
Chipotle... Sounds Muslim or Radical Christian rpannier Jun 2014 #39

bigtree

(85,971 posts)
4. heh, just looking at this
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 03:58 PM
Jun 2014
Josh Marshall ?@joshtpm 23s
Open Carry Texas Group Postpones March Through Predominantly Black Neighborhood @TPM http://t.co/v2mbY7kGUF

Iliyah

(25,111 posts)
24. Scratching my head with that one
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:49 AM
Jun 2014

I guess they wanted to start a race riot, ya'know how much they loooovvvvvees Amerika!

 

KamaAina

(78,249 posts)
2. Objection! "by treating himself to some Mexican food at Chipotle."
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 03:56 PM
Jun 2014

Chipotle is not Mexican food. It's Tex- or Cali-Mex at best.

Response to KamaAina (Reply #2)

riqster

(13,986 posts)
26. Not much of what we get in America IS real Mexican.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 12:08 PM
Jun 2014

Then of course, we can argue regional differences...cuisine are in the mouth of the beholder, anyway.

ChazInAz

(2,557 posts)
40. That's the righteous truth.
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 10:55 AM
Jun 2014

Here in Tucson, we can get REAL Mexican food from all of the regions of that country. It's a little corner of heaven!
Chipotles does very well, too...because we're not purists. We just like good food.

bigtree

(85,971 posts)
6. via The Wire
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 04:04 PM
Jun 2014

President ordered a chicken burrito bowl, with white rice, tomatoes, salsa verde, lettuce, cheese, and, guacamole.

monmouth3

(3,871 posts)
5. The SS guy in the last pic is a cutie too but if he's trying to be cool like the boss, FAIL!!! I
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 04:01 PM
Jun 2014

love that he can cause havoc, it keeps people on their toes and drives the right nutz...I love it..

Cha

(296,780 posts)
14. Good point, monmouth.. "love that he can cause havoc, it keeps people on their toes and drives the
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 08:45 PM
Jun 2014
right nutz...I love it." to havoc from the Prez

bigtree

(85,971 posts)
8. »
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 05:45 PM
Jun 2014


President Barack Obama sits down to have lunch with Shelby Ramirez at a Chipotle Mexican Grill in Washington, Monday, June 23, 2014, before they attending the White House Summit on Working Families. Obama is encouraging more employers to adopt family-friendly policies, part of a broader effort to convince employers that providing more flexibility is good for business as well as workers. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

bigtree

(85,971 posts)
9. update: videos in op
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 07:48 PM
Jun 2014


President Obama walks to lunch at Chipotle restaurant with, from left, Shirley Young, Lisa Rumain, Shelby Ramirez and Roger Trombley before he attends the White House Summit on Working Families in Washington. (Larry Downing/Reuters)

Cha

(296,780 posts)
10. Thanks for the huge thread on President Obama's visit to Chipotle, bigtree..
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 08:40 PM
Jun 2014

Zeke Miller @ZekeJMiller · 2h
Obama: "It’s been a while since I had a burrito bowl—and it was good . . . I just walked over to Chipotles for lunch. I caused a lot of havoc"

A snippet of a sequel from the Obama diary..

President Obama & The First Lady Champion Working Families



Robin Roberts and First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House Summit on Working Families

[font color=blue]Marlei Martinez: Obama Seeks ‘Good, Strong, Healthy Families’[/font]

"President Barack Obama is encouraging Congress and the country to focus on issues here at home — namely how to improve the livelihoods of working families.Here are the five things we learned from our sitdown with the President: 1. The goal of the summit is … “… to lift up the conversation that everybody is already having individually and let people know you’re not alone out here,” Obama said. Priority one: Paid family leave According to a survey from the United Nations’ labor agency, of the 185 countries and territories with readily available information, only three do not provide paid maternity leave. And, you guessed it, the United States made that list. The other two countries are Oman and Papua New Guinea. “Paid family leave, we’re the only advanced country on Earth that doesn’t have it,” the President said. “It doesn’t make any sense. There are a lot of countries that are a lot poorer than we are that also have it.”

Much MOre..
TOD

bigtree

(85,971 posts)
15. hi, Cha! Here's a Souza
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 09:32 PM
Jun 2014




petesouza ?@petesouza 18m
Pres Obama orders his burrito bowl at a Chipotle today before lunch w participants in the working families summit.

louis-t

(23,266 posts)
30. Repugs have been complaining all morning about this.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 01:46 PM
Jun 2014

"OMGS!!!!1!!1 HE REACHED OVER THE SNEEZE GUARD HE IS A EVIL MUSLIN COMMIE!1!!"

Cha

(296,780 posts)
33. Just because they won't associate with the President or VP doesn't mean the
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 06:05 PM
Jun 2014

rest of us give a shite what they have to say about ANYTHING.

louis t

BlueEye

(449 posts)
23. That's so funny!
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:23 AM
Jun 2014

A good friend of mine work at Chipotle. She said they HATE IT when people do that!

Oh well, POTUS gets a special exception!

Response to bigtree (Original post)

SnowCritter

(809 posts)
22. Give Q'doba a try (if there's one in your area)
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 11:15 AM
Jun 2014

Similar cuisine and mighty tasty.

My wife prefers them to Chipotle (I'm not all that fussy - when I'm truly hungry I'll eat just about anything)

Response to SnowCritter (Reply #22)

Cha

(296,780 posts)
19. Tweets from #FamilesSucceed..
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 10:04 PM
Jun 2014

Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
Follow
Reporter to POTUS: "Well, it's well known that women are more likely to vote for Democrats"
Pres. Obama: "I said, well, women are smarter"

8:20 AM - 23 Jun 2014
101 Retweets 55 favorites

Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
Follow
President Obama on crowd booing Congress: "No, don't boo. Vote!" Crowd cheers and applauds. #FamiliesSucceed
8:11 AM - 23 Jun 2014
47 Retweets 30 favorites

Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
Follow
POTUS on his daughters: "Just getting to know them and making sure they knew me. It was an important bond. I want every father to have that"
8:16 AM - 23 Jun 2014
25 Retweets 10 favorites

MOre..
TOD

betsuni

(25,374 posts)
20. I teared up a little at the last one...
Mon Jun 23, 2014, 10:58 PM
Jun 2014

Oh no .... it's happening .... I have drunk the Kool Aid with my chicken burrito bowl. I am an OBAMABOT!!!!! I am a CHEERLEADER FOR OUR DEAR LEADER!!!!!! I should've known something was wrong when I put Dijon mustard on my hamburger yesterday.

Cha

(296,780 posts)
21. LOL.. that should have been
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 12:28 AM
Jun 2014

your red flag, betsuni!

Grey Poupon Wants Obama to ‘Pardon’ Dijon Lovers

"Real mustard growers may be fairly indifferent to the semi-controversy surrounding President Obama's preference for Dijon mustard, but Grey Poupon is trying to take advantage of this rare marketing opportunity, when an infinitesimal slither of America's attention is marginally focused on the topic of mustard. Over the weekend the company's public-relations team sent over a statement calling on President Obama to "pardon" lovers of Dijon mustard — a riff off the classic "pardon me" commercials that made their product seem so snooty in the first place. "The right to choose condiments freely is quintessentially American and embodies the spirit of our democracy," reads the release's tongue-in-cheek interpretation of our national ideals. Heh. Isn't this so much more fun than not making an issue of how Obama eats his burger?"

ROFL..

May 8, 2009

The Honorable Barack H. Obama
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20006

Dear Mr. President:

We applaud you, Mr. President, for exercising your freedom of taste when recently ordering
a burger with Dijon mustard. We’re always happy to see people use Dijon mustard to add
flair and flavor to their favorite foods. The right to choose condiments freely is
quintessentially American and embodies the spirit of our democracy.

So we urge you to respond to “Dijon-gate” by issuing a “pardon” to any American who has
ever been criticized for putting a liberal spread of Dijon mustard on a burger or a
conservative dollop on a ham & cheese sandwich. These “Pardon Me for Loving Dijon”
proclamations will empower the millions of Dijon mustard-loving Americans to ask for their
favorite condiment with pride.


Respectfully yours,

The GREY POUPON Team
www.greypoupon.com

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2009/05/grey_poupon_wants_obama_to_par.html

You're Pardoned..


 

amandabeech

(9,893 posts)
36. The one I used to patronize was on M at about 20th St. NW in downtown DC.
Tue Jun 24, 2014, 06:14 PM
Jun 2014

I loved their food, but my complaint was that despite the huge Black community in DC, I never saw a single Black person working there. The staff was exclusively hispanic, and many knew almost no English, leading me to think that they were probably fairly recent immigrants.

I like the idea that the chain pays well, offers decent benefits, and promotes from within. What I didn't like was that they didn't hire from all local ethnic/racial groups at the store where I picked up my food.

The last time I was there was four years ago, so perhaps they've changed, or perhaps the store that I patronized was unusual.

zentrum

(9,865 posts)
37. Six years too late.
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 08:51 AM
Jun 2014

Should have been meeting for big photo symbolism like this in 2008 when he had so much force behind him. Should have said then "jobs, jobs, jobs". Should have had working people and labor representatives like Robert Reich at the table instead of Wall Street and the guys whose deregulation ideas helped bring us the economic meltdown. It should never have come to pass that income disparity only got wider over the last six years.

Obama always has us at his back and he should have reached around the scabby Republicans and DC to connect with us, way back then. We were his real power base and the vacuum he created by not doing this allowed the Baggers and their analysis of what was wrong, to fill the silence.

2008 was a huge populist moment and instead of trying to shake hands with the sharks across the isle who bit and bit and bit him, he should have shaken hands with us.

If he'd fought hard for it in 2008 I think he could even have gotten single payer because the country was so pumped and desperate for change. The Republicans were savage anyway---he should have gone big.

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