Whole Foods CEO Rethinks Decision To Compare Obamacare to "Fascism"

[octoberlib]

Upon further review—and after heaping amounts of criticism from some shoppers—Mackey now says fascism also isn't the best way to describe the president's landmark health care law. "That's a very provocative word, so I regret using it," he said Thursday.


He walked back his comments in interviews with a number of outlets, including the Huffington Post and CBS News. Here he was on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show:

I made a bad choice of language. I was trying to distinguish it between socialism so I took the dictionary definition of fascism, which is when the means of production are still owned privately but the government controls it — that’s a type of fascism. However, I realize that that word has so much baggage associated with it from World War II, with Germany, with Italy and Spain, that's a very provocative word, so I regret using it. What I do believe in is free enterprise capitalism, and I’d like to see our healthcare system really unleash the power of free enterprise capitalism to create innovation and healthcare progress. I don’t think we have that – I think we’re moving away from that. So I do regret using that word, I won’t be using it in the future.
I do believe that the government can provide subsidies for our poorer citizens so that everyone can afford health insurance. One of the great examples that I point people to is what they’re doing in Switzerland, where you have still private health insurance markets and yet the government creates subsidies for all of its citizens so that everyone can afford health insurance. There you let the private market, competitive capitalism work and yet the government makes sure that there’s a safety net for people – that’s where I wish we were going in the United States.



Mackey clearly is still not a fan of the new health care, but he said that he's still in search of a new way to describe it, likely one that doesn't come with so much historical baggage. "I think I'm going to use the phrase government-controlled health care," he told HuffPo. "That's where we’re evolving to right now."

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/01/17/whole_foods_john_mackey_says_he_regrets_comparing_obamacare_to_facism.html

[Rider3]

1. Too late...

I'll be shopping at Trader Joe's.

[yardwork]

49. +1. I had stopped going to Whole Foods before due to the CEO's earlier comments

and I regret going back. This was the absolute last straw and no amount of walking it back will change my mind now. There's nothing that I need at WF and it's cheaper to go to my local farmer's markets, food co-op, and Trader Joe's.

[DonRedwood]

63. Yeah, he keeps saying it...and if you keeps saying it, you mean it.

A repeated comment is not a slip of the tongue.

[Liberal_in_LA]

51. +2

[MADem]

2. "That's a very provocative word, so I regret using it," he said Thursday.

Translation: I'm getting my sorry ass Papa John'd by those annoying "consumers," and it's affecting my bottom line.

Fuck him, and the overpriced organic arugula he rode in on!

[Tarheel_Dem]

33. +1

[frylock]

47. lol @ Papa John'd

[peacebird]

3. And I can still not shop at wholePaycheck, because I think the CEO meant exactly what he first said

Just like Romney was being honest in that secretly recorded talk about the 47%

[phleshdef]

4. LOL. "One of the great examples that I point people to is what they’re doing in Switzerland..."

"One of the great examples that I point people to is what they’re doing in Switzerland, where you have still private health insurance markets and yet the government creates subsidies for all of its citizens so that everyone can afford health insurance. There you let the private market, competitive capitalism work and yet the government makes sure that there’s a safety net for people – that’s where I wish we were going in the United States."

Would someone please get this idiot on national television and point out to him that is basically what we ARE doing in terms of the ACA?

Christ.

[octoberlib]

8. +1

[enlightenment]

28. Actually, we're not.

What we're doing is a lot closer to his ideal - since health insurance companies in Switzerland are not allowed to profit on the basic plans (they can on supplemental plans).

He's a typical idiot, who doesn't grasp that in NO country where insurance is mandatory do those countries allow the insurance companies to make a profit.

Only in the US is that going to be allowed.

[CTyankee]

34. this is CORRECT! On basic health insurance, the western European countries don't allow for

profit companies, only non-profit. He is distorting the distinction between "private" non-profit organizations and those that provide supplemental, not basic and necessary, plans, i.e. private hospital rooms...

[Amonester]

72. He's just repeating the ignoRance he heard from another ignoRamus before.

He never truly studied that country's HCS, just like he never truly studied what fascism is...

Too busy counting his lo$$es...

[phleshdef]

39. I'm just pointing out that we are engaging in pretty much the same concept.

Of course there are semantic differences. It doesn't change the fact that his described ideal system is pretty much the very thing he is railing against.

[octoberlib]

5. Seriously, is there anything more fascist than the GOP?

I figured it wouldn't take long for him to back off. I won't be shopping there either.

[Brother Buzz]

6. You can't put organic toothpaste back in the tube, Dude

[Bjornsdotter]

41. Love it!

[redstatebluegirl]

7. if we all take our money elsewhere

these jerks will learn. They are so greedy they don't want to lose money so they will "walk back" any of their crazy ideas. My money goes elsewhere.

[banned from Kos]

9. That is exacly what Obamacare is.

I do believe that the government can provide subsidies for our poorer citizens so that everyone can afford health insurance. One of the great examples that I point people to is what they’re doing in Switzerland, where you have still private health insurance markets and yet the government creates subsidies for all of its citizens so that everyone can afford health insurance. There you let the private market, competitive capitalism work and yet the government makes sure that there’s a safety net for people – that’s where I wish we were going in the United States.

[1StrongBlackMan]

13. Exactly ...

but that's not what the chamber of commerce told him.

[banned from Kos]

15. Yes, expanded Medicaid will be a subsidy for the poor (check)

The employer based model is for-profit and insures the able and working ----

And the elderly receive Medicare!

Problem solved.

[1StrongBlackMan]

17. But why ...

would any, non-ideological, for profit employer opt for a employer-based system, when universal/single-payer removes that expense.

[demwing]

20. Because employer based insurance ties

The employee to the job. As much as capitalists like to go on and on about competition, they don't want to have to compete for wage slaves...that's just fascism!!

[1StrongBlackMan]

22. True ...

But wouldn't good wages and equitable treatment keep the workplace in tact?

Silly me!

[demwing]

26. Clearly, you care little about the needs

of our precious job creators. You must be Canadian, or French, or worse...French Canadian.

[enlightenment]

30. Health insurance companies in Switzerland are

not allowed to profit on the basic plans they must offer. BIG difference.

[banned from Kos]

32. Does Mackey know that? He is touting the Swiss plan.

I like profit. So I prefer Obamacare then.

I am opposed to single payer.

[enlightenment]

35. Yes, I know where you stand.

You've made it abundantly clear from the outset.

No, Mackey probably doesn't realize the difference - most people don't.

[banned from Kos]

37. Well, I am glad we agree! n/t

[enlightenment]

43. And I'm happy you think so. ;) n/t

[CTyankee]

36. so tell me how any company can profit for providing health care for people who really need it?

that is the fallacy that you need to deal with...

[Sekhmets Daughter]

57. Hope you are an old person

because single payer is coming eventually. During the big health care debates of 2009/2010 the president of AHIP ( the health insurers professional organization) said their current business model is not sustainable for much longer. He said that during a speech he delivered to the annual convention. The 3 big outfits are each trying to be the last man standing, thus grabbing the contract to administer single payer.

[1StrongBlackMan]

10. So ...

What I do believe in is free enterprise capitalism, and I’d like to see our healthcare system really unleash the power of free enterprise capitalism to create innovation and healthcare progress.

You would support an end to farm subsidies?

And you support a recognition that the government is a market player whose participation will hurry innovation, progress and, oh yeah, price moderation in the healthcare insurance market?

I thought not!

[closeupready]

11. Mm-hmm. Right.

[NYC_SKP]

12. WTF is wrong with people??? Universal care would so help our economy!!!!

And the ACA is a step in that direction.

The economy and this country would thrive:

Small businesses, and large, wouldn't have to budget for health plans AT ALL;

Individuals, single and otherwise, would feel more free to change jobs to ones where their skills are more well suited, increasing productivity and happiness!;

People wouldn't be getting married or staying married just for the bennies;

And, the horrifying WASTE in our current system would be much reduced!

Imagine fewer long waits at ERs and, hopefully, the end of catastrophically costly bills.

[1StrongBlackMan]

16. Yep ...

Working in the HR field, I have asked time and again, why any for profit business would NOT support an universal healthcare/single payer system? I have yet to get an answer other than "my taxes will go up", to which I respond, "So will your corporate bottom-line! And if you take, 50% of your cost savings and give that to your workforce (bottom-up) in the form of additional compensation, doubly so!"

Also,

Individuals, single and otherwise, would feel more free to change jobs to ones where their skills are more well suited, increasing productivity and happiness!;

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/best-countries-entrepreneurs-840754

Notice something about 4 of the top 5 best countries for entrepreneurs?

[JNelson6563]

14. Still an asshole.

Statements can change, other things just don't. Like being an asshole.

Julie

[Paladin]

18. Where'd You Learn Your Backtracking Skills, Mackey: From The NRA?

Was that pathetic effort supposed to get me back in your overpriced grocery stores? I don't think so.....

[mdavies013]

19. Just sent my second comment on WholeFoods site

Basically said I might reconsider when the CEO resigns because he said exactly what he meant. Let them know I joined Weaver Street Market and will buy from there instead.

[bluestate10]

31. I don't shop at Whole Foods, but know people that do. The typical customer seems to

be progressive, based upon my personal count, not statistics. I wonder whether those shopped know of Whole Food's CEO's position on a key social issue? The CEO sounds like a rightwing, social progress hating person.

[ncgrits]

76. Shout out to "The Weave"! nt

[Berlum]

21. What a Republican maroon

in fact, if not in label...

[obamanut2012]

23. He's an anti union/labor wingnut

Not surprised he doesn't like ACA.

If you have a Trader Joe's in your area, shop there. They treat their employees so good it is literally almost impossible to get a job there.

[joeybee12]

24. Doesn't know what fascism is and doesn't know squat about Swiss healthcare...

More controlled by the givernment than ours...this guy is really, really stupid.

[freshwest]

25. Free market libertarian now claims to support socialized healthcare.

'Government controlled health care.'

Oh, no, the Obama Death Panels. So, he voted for Gary Johnson:

“...There is one thing we know about health care. Government cannot create a system that will reduce costs while increasing access. Only competition and the price transparency that competition will bring can accomplish the imperatives of affordability and availability. Whether it is the President’s plan, or the Republican prescription drug benefit, the idea that anyone in Washington can somehow manage one of the most essential and substantial parts of both our quality of life and the economy is, and always has been, fundamentally wrong...

Nothing about today’s decision changes the basic reality that it is impossible to eliminate deficit spending and remove the smothering consequences of federal debt without dramatically reducing the costs of Medicare and Medicaid. And neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have given the slightest hint of willingness to do so...

More from the Liberty-loving nominee:

http://reason.com/blog/2012/06/28/gary-johnson-on-obamacare-ruling-it-has

Remember, a Libertarian is a Tea Bagger:

http://teapartycheer.com/texas/texas-candidates/texas-2012/libertarian-primary-for-potus-2012/

Libertarian Door Hanger Quiz:

How do you stand on ECONOMIC issues?

End "corporate welfare." No government handouts to business.

End government barriers to international free trade.

Let people control their own retirement: privatize Social Security.

Replace government welfare with private charity.

Cut taxes and government spending by 50% or more.

http://www.lp.org/blogs/staff/quiz-across-america-door-hangers-5-per-100

Sound familiar? Ask the Koch brothers, it's their other pet party. Don't regulate those big corporations, etc.

Will he support eliminating those private insurers he speaks so glowingly about as the solution or funding those exchanges or his income taxes going up?

If this offends Libertarians, just let me know and I'll delete it for you.

[octoberlib]

55. I wonder how many of these Libertarians know

that Ayn Rand was on SS and Medicare before she died. Guess that private charity didn't come through for her.

[freshwest]

60. Ah, but you see, it doesn't happen to people like them only 'parasites.' Problem solved!

[WinkyDink]

27. Translation: Please keep buying stuff from me!

[Iris]

69. How very capitalistic!

[WinkyDink]

75. No; how very "Oh, my God, I screwed up with that asinine remark!"

[indepat]

29. Apology/explanation not accepted, you effin'

mf'er.

[southernyankeebelle]

38. Well the man still said it and he meant it. It's only PR that he is taking it back.

[MNBrewer]

40. Does that fuckin' idiot think that the word "fascism" was a dictionary word prior to

prior to having been INVENTED by the Mussolini's party? That it was just adopted by Franco and Hitler? That it hasn't ALWAYS had "baggage"?

What a moron. Libertarians are so ignorant.

[williamc1967txlib]

42. Uh, you're a little late there bud

No matter, however. The American people now have further proof that these big corporations are only interested in making money. They could care less if we get sick and die from eating their food.

[jsr]

44. Mackey can shove his overpriced made-in-China organic crap up his ass.

[Hekate]

45. Uh-huh.

Sure you're sorry.

[Fire Walk With Me]

46. Technically, he's right, but not why.

Mussolini defined "Fascism" as the merger of state and corporate power. With what I've seen in LA with the korporate lobby CCALA.org owning the city council and mayor, with the "Citizens United" ruling and $2 billion spent on this last election cycle, with ALEC making laws for states such as "Stand your ground", and with the TPP doing so internationally...it's already an increasing merger of state and corporate power.

[Politicub]

48. Does this guy have Tourette's or something? He's said something like this and retracted it at

Least three times that I can remember.

He lost my business the first go around. I hope this causes whole foods to lose more customers.

[surrealAmerican]

50. ... but we've already seen the "power of free enterprise capitalism"...

... unleashed: it means prices for health care go up to where only the wealthy can afford it.

[kairos12]

52. He is Still an Ass Whole

[Phlem]

53. Ooops

I was stuuuupiiiid, me sorry

-p

[L0oniX]

54. CEO = sociopath. n/t

[roody]

56. Screw Whole Foods. I'm boycotting. Nt

[riderinthestorm]

58. I heard that interview on NPR and almost vomited. Could not believe his spew.

So now that he doesn't have a national outlet to disperse his despicable shit, he can NOW retract?

Bullshit.

Glad I gave Whole Foods up after the last round of his disgusting commentary.

[RainDog]

59. STILL an asshole

capitalism isn't the answer to all things.

parenting - we don't create better parents through capitalism as part of the family structure.

same goes for healthcare.

[Demo_Chris]

61. He should have called in Corporatism. I'll do it for him. :)

[riqster]

62. "AssWhole Foods"

Sounds about right.

[Phlem]

73. Perfect!

that does it for me. Not buying anything that comes out of ass.

-p

[Snarkoleptic]

64. "What I do believe in is free enterprise capitalism, and I’d like to see our healthcare system..."

Health insurers (along with Major League Baseball) are exempt from anti-trust regulations. This extreme form of capitalism discourages the mythical "free market" from operating as conservatives claim it should.

Eliminating the exemption for health insurers and offering medicare to all would be a real game changer in the short term. Ultimately, we need to evolve as a society and recognize healthcare as a basic human right and not some commodity for the monied interest to wring profits from.

Until then, keep asking your conservative friends "What value do for-profit health insurance companies add to our healthcare delivery system?".
It's an eye opener that's fun to watch as they fumble around and finally begin fuming.

[DreamGypsy]

65. Free enterprise capitalism

"What I do believe in is free enterprise capitalism, and I’d like to see our healthcare system really unleash the power of free enterprise capitalism to create innovation and healthcare progress. ...One of the great examples that I point people to is what they’re doing in Switzerland ... that’s where I wish we were going in the United States."

From Business Insider:

In Switzerland, health care is guaranteed to all citizens. Citizens must buy health insurance and in return, private insurers must offer coverage to all citizens.

Free enterprise capitalism in the United States has had ~160 years (since the founding of Pfizer in 1849) to innovate and to improve health care. No one can dispute that innovation has occurred and that the capabilities for better health care for Americans exist.

However, the actual result has been a health care system that is the most costly in the world and only mediocre in providing care for the population it serves.

If wishes were horses, Mr. Mackey, then the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) is no triple crown winner, but it's much better than the nags with which we've been saddled for the last century so. The ACA requires health insurance and limits conditions under which an insurer can deny coverage. Perhaps we can hone the new health care system so it out performs Switzerland, once histrionics of persons like yourself subside.

Have a nice evening, Mr. Mackey. Perhaps you could pickup one of those exorbitantly priced salamis from a Whole Foods store and ...... well, entertain yourself.

[DirkGently]

66. Another inert mass of irrelevance who thinks he's smart because he's rich.

[flamingdem]

67. Dumbass from AssWhole Foods scared of loosing 85% of his customer!

(except of course me.. sorry but I am addicted to the organic freshly roasted expresso coffee, sigh)

[Iris]

68. Hasn't the healthcare system been unleashing the power of free-enterprise over the past 25 years or

so? Wtf is he talking about? If the healthcare system were capable of that sort of innovation, wouldn't they already be doing it?

[cbrer]

71. There you go with your logic and stuff... nt

[daleo]

70. Government controlled healthcare

Is no scarier than government controlled schools. In a democracy, the people are the government and they have a right to exercise substantial control over matters that are essential to the public good.

[stultusporcos]

74. F-Him and his trifling store

I do not need to shop there nor will I ever will again nor is this the first time he has been an asshat.
Yes they have some nice overpriced products you can’t get at other places which I really don’t need and are easy to live without.

What this asshat does not get is that Whole Foods is not all that and is an optional place to shop for those that shop there and it is very easy for his customer base to shop elsewhere with no impact to their life.

[peace13]

77. Sorry dude.

Not one more dollar.