November 15, 2012

• Do what you think you have to, but I don't have to patronize you.

  Since the election here in the US, there have been businessmen who have been very public about how they are now going to have to do business since Obamacare (properly known as The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) is unlikely to be repealed.  Their actions and proposed actions are generating a lot of interest and comment.

   

  

  One of the first to publically speak out was Mr. Robert Murray, a coal company operator.  Coal is mined in the US as a fuel for energy plants and manufacturing plants.  It's a pretty dirty resource, making a lot of grimy smoke, putting acid into the air, and creating mounds of ash which must be dealt with properly.  It's still rather abundant, with mines stretching almost the entire way across the US.  In the news, people are touting "clean coal" which is not exactly the whole truth.  For years coal was mined with pretty much careless abandon, leaving a devastating trail of dangerous underground mines, hazardous high wall cliffs of surface mining and a seemingly endless amount of streams and rivers turned red/orange from the sulfur that polluted the water around the mines.  Companies were busy trying to find new sources of "low sulfur coal" and when it ran out, the companies reluctantly (with prodding of the federal government) began "cleaning" the coal to eliminate as much of the sulfur as possible.  Cleaning plants have managed to make a lot of the "high sulfur" product clean enough to meet the original sulfur content in the old coal.  It's cleaner but far from clean. 

  

  Power plants which used coal for decades are beginning to show signs of age and inefficiency.  The government has targeted many of them to be closed, since they spew copious amounts of ash into the air.  Mr. Murray's contention is that health care will mean that he has to eliminate jobs from his company.  That may be part of it, but I suspect that not getting into the coal cleaning business has meant that his coal is now of less value than the coal cleaned at other companies.  The speed with which Mr. Murray fired people led me to think that this was coming anyway but the health care bill gave him a good excuse.

  

   

  The next to spout was Papa John (John Schnatter) of the famed pizza franchise.  Papa was eager to point out that the healthcare bill meant that (sadly, he pointed out) he would have to eliminate the hours of his workers because he simply could not pass along the cost to his customers (and risk making his shareholders angry).  Papa was quick to make sure everyone knew right after the election that this was coming to pass, and he was mighty sorry about it, but there it was.  The estimated cost to the consumer was about $.10 to $.25.  Hungry pizza patrons would doubtlessly quail at paying so much more.  I find that unlikely, since they already shell out between a $1.00 and $1.75 for extra toppings. 

  

  Competitors of the franchise are eagerly cheering them on and, at the same time, lowering their prices to snag their customers.

   

  

   

  Next into the fray comes John Metz, who is a franchisee of quite a few Denny's and Hurricane Buffalo Wing establishments.  Mr. Metz is just adding 5% onto the bill of each customer in order to recoup his losses.  Now, what you need to know is that Mr. Metz's businesses are located near West Palm Beach, Florida, which is not exactly a middle class enclave.  Mr. Metz has thrown out quite a few numbers about how much it would estimated take to meet the law (approximately $175,000 per restaurant).  Now, I'm not a business person (far from it) but since Denny's is open just about everyday of the year, each store would need to clear about $480 per day to meet just this.  That seems pretty doable to me, but maybe it isn't.  If your location is a good one, chances are that your establishment should make much more than that in a day.  If a restaurant isn't in a good location, maybe it shouldn't be there at all. 

  As a business person, I believe that you have the right to run your business freely, short of breaking the law. 

  I have to wonder if freely and ethically can exist side by side.  All of these businesses benefit from a workforce and that workforce works in situations that could be dangerous.  My take is that ethics need to be part of the equation when you figure the cost of doing business. 

  This could get interesting.  Stay tuned.....

   

   

  • 6:43 pm
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