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As the health care debate rages on up in DC., a few companies are giving the rest of us their two cents worth. Of course, these companies are not in favor of any real health care reform, so their ideas are not in line with the reforms that the Obama camp is proposing. No big surprise there.
shellac from http://www.dailykos.com has an open letter to one of those companies, Whole Foods.
My letter to the Nashville Whole Foods management
by shellac
Fri Aug 14, 2009 I am a Nashville area surgeon and a loyal
customer of the Nashville Whole Foods ever since it first opened. This is true
no longer. I was stunned and deeply disappointed to read Mr. Mackey's right-wing
propaganda piece in the WSJ. He has his right to speak his point of view. I have the right to take my money elsewhere.
This is the letter I wrote in the feedback page at my local Whole Foods store's website.I am a Vanderbilt physician and a loyal customer of Whole Foods for years now. It is with some degree of remorse that I write this letter, but I feel I have no choice.Your CEO Mr. Mackey's ill-informed article does tremendous harm to the cause of health care reform. His solutions, e.g. high deductible plans, are simply ridiculous. These things are part of the problem, not the solution. As the country spirals further into debt from health insurance costs, lining the pockets of health insurance company CEOs along the way, and America falls further and further behind other developed nations in all leading health indicators, Mr. Mackey has the audacity to point to Medicare as the problem. Of course his solutions are silly--they are simply right-wing talking points.
Hypocrites like him are the same people who would not bat an eyelash at sending troops to Iraq, causing the deaths of many Iraqis and Americans, and then footing the massive bill. Yet they balk at the idea of paying for health care reform, something that has the ability to save millions of lives. I truly do not understand this.
Mr. Mackey has the right to speak his point of view. We customers similarly have a right to support those businesses whose political support will not be detrimental to society. I realize that the employees in the Nashville store may not agree with Mr. Mackey, but I would be in violation of my Hippocratic Oath and my duties as a physician if I continued to support Whole Foods. For those employees who may suffer as innocent bystanders, I am truly sorry.Good luck.
I truly do not understand what is going through this cretin CEO's mind when he penned this op-ed. Does he not know that Americans are dying for lack of proper health care? Or does he not care?
Whatever. I will never step foot in that store again.
