Comments on: Whole Foods CEO healthcare Op-Ed spurs boycott

By: rik

rik — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:52:10 +0000

Whole foods has bought out our local health food store, is dramatically overpriced, anti-union and this is the final straw. I haven’t shopped there much in recent years and from now on won’t shop there at all.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 01:32:59 +0000

We are all adults here, and as adults we know there are consequences for are actions, so if you do not agree with CEO John Mackey views on healthcare, you can a) do nothing, b) shop there, c) not shop there, d) protest and picket the stores, its your choice, live the dream!

By: Kay B. Day

Kay B. Day — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:57:20 +0000

I shopped at Whole Foods yesterday as a result of publicity over Mr. Mackey’s Op Ed.This blog post obviously slants statist–so what if WF doesn’t have unions? We just spent billions helping bail out union pension plans and where unions go, work dries up.Mackey’s editorial did not slam the popular president. Or even the pathetic congress. Or even the impossibly inferior HR 3200, the bill one committee put forth as a solution.Those who want HR 3200 or single pay should look at the breakdown on the voluntarily and involuntarily insured. Look at the US Census figures. The 45 million number is a political smokescreen.Reuters does the reader no favor with biased posts like the one above.

By: PW

PW — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:14:40 +0000

I’ll be buying more from Whole Foods now that I know that it is leaning less liberal/socialist/communist and more towards American core values. Inefficient government healthcare means more costs, which means more taxes, which means less profit, which means fewer jobs for all the whiners on these blogs.Taking money from some to give to others is thievery. The U.S. government set up by the Constitution was not established to do this (was to have a military and roads, very limited), but is morphing into this pseudo-socialistic Banana Republic state that resembles nothing like the U.S. our children sing about in middle school. It’s a harsh reality when one gets out of school only to learn that the government is going to confiscate 20%, 50% or more of the hard-earned money one makes, only to give it to what is (mostly) whiners and slackers–like the ones on these blogs supporting government healthcare.

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:36:11 +0000

I am always glad to see Americans voicing their opinions, I may not always agree with them, but I enjoy it, so please keep boycotting Whole Foods Market, Inc., companies keep dropping sponsorship of the “Glenn Beck” BS, Astroturfers keep showing up at town hall meeting and get your shouts in (we all know you can’t articulate your position and are all about hate) they hate and can’t debate, sweet.

By: Stu, Round Rock, Tx

Stu, Round Rock, Tx — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:44:40 +0000

Carly, I can’t think of a more ‘democratic’ way than having voluntary contributions to a public health trust fund. To fund such a trust using tax $’s is not more ‘democratic’ than using a gun to collect church donations. Using a gun to fund *your* notion of what is moral is totally immoral! The debate today is being waged by morons on both sides that can’t think outside of their own ideologies. Mackey’s ideas are a breath of fresh air!

By: Bob Thompson

Bob Thompson — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 17:28:42 +0000

The White House has no plan and will sign anything. The House has offered bills that will bankrupt the country. There are plenty of alternatives not proposed by Obama supporters, including those discussed in this op-ed, that can significantly improve healthcare conditions. Let’s have some support for improvements that can work AND keep our country free.

By: michel d. merle

michel d. merle — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 19:28:06 +0000

Obviously food is necessary for survival as is good health. However, in this century we have choices where food is concerned. Not the case with healthcare. Healthcare has four major components: the doctors and nurses, the hospitals and clinics, the pharmaceutical companies, the insurers like Medicare and the HMO’s (plus a handful of co-ops). The Government licenses the doctors and nurses, the Government ensures that drugs are safe, the Government certifies the hospitals and clinics, and this Government regulates HMO’s to a limited degree and runs Medicare and Medicaid and the VA medical services and completely pays for medical services and facilities for members of the Armed Forces; Government also subsidizes State and Federal employees through generous contributions to approved HMO’s.Government is not run by a bunch of amateurs, nor is it in the business of making a profit when delivering care to our sick citizens. The profit part is the part that sticks in our throats as citizens of a free and democratic nation. No one goes bankrupt over lack of means to pay for a meal, yet many who are either uninsured, under-insured or who are victimized by HMO’s and their merciless fine-print will find themselves abandoned by society when illness strikes. Sure, you may say that they can wait for foreclosure, bankruptcy, and repossession of the family car and, as a family, walk the streets and then get covered by the social service agencies. If that is what this modern example of a democratic state wants to do, leave things as they are. Then you will truly have a nation divided—between the haves and the have-nots.

By: Guy McLendon

Guy McLendon — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 16:03:05 +0000

My appreciation goes to Mackey who has the courage to point out the obvious: the proverbial “the emperor has no clothes”.Federal regulations are the root cause of the health care crisis, so hyping yet more government as being the solution is just not credible. For instance, 90% of the cost for developing new drugs is spent by drug manufacturers to satisfy federal regulations on effectiveness rather than on safety. So, if you’ve ever had a loved one die of such diseases as pancreatic cancer … you can thank federal regulations from denial of new, experimental drugs that may have saved the life of your loved one.Expecting yet more government to cure the health care system’s ailments is as sensible as expecting to slow down a speeding car by stomping on the gas rather than the brake.Guy McLendonHouston, Texas

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 13:36:13 +0000

This is the problem with shopping at a corporate grocery; you give them your money in exchange for food, but you have no stake or control. I’m so lucky to have a food co-op in my community which I am a member owner of. Whole Foods is just an upscale version of the same unsustainable Joinst Stock Corporation model. Opt out and join a food co-op; if there isn’t one in your community yet, organize one!