Lanny Davis defends Whole Foods:
"The John Mackey piece, which I actually helped him a little bit on, has really been distorted as often happened in the blogosphere where people have short attention span," Davis told me.
Davis represented Whole Foods in a case brought by the Federal Trade Commission, in which they charged that the upscale grocery store giant was engaging in monopolistic practices. Davis is a supporter of single payer health care, but, he says, disagreements with Mackey aside, Whole Foods is a progressive company that has instituted a strict cap on executive compensation and that provides 100 percent of their employees with health insurance.
Lanny is a partner in Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and was a registered lobbyist for Whole Foods in the first quarter of 2009 for the low low price of $40,000. Orrick filed a "termination report" on March 1 (PDF), but somehow Lanny was still trying to put together an anti-Employee Free Choice effort on behalf of Whole Foods and Starbucks in late March. Lanny wanted to see if he could bring everyone together and get them to agree to EFCA just without card check or binding arbitration or anything included in the original bill, which lasted about 48 hours until the Chamber landed on his head and Lanny bailed.
According to a January 9 article on Bisnow, Lanny has a "SWAT team" that assists companies like Whole Foods that are "facing legal issues with a heavy PR element." Lobbying against EFCA on Whole Foods’ behalf and then calling them a "progressive company" is a bit of a stretch.
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Why is any Democrat associated with Lanny Davis? He should be persona non grata in Democratic circles.
Does everyone know that he is shilling for the military coup in honduras, which is murdering teachers, students, and trade unionists on a weekly basis without being denied resources by the U.S. Government. Alone in the world, Obama and Clinton (heavily lobbied by Davis and his pals in the corporate community) are apparently trying to keep Central America safe for American business, and hell for poor people.
Keep up the angry calls to them and/or read this:
http://upsidedownworld.org/mai…..w/2047/68/
Lanny, what a disgraceful whoring piece of fuck who only gets worse and worse. From his pitifully lameass “defending” of the Clintons from the Ken Starr Media Industrial Complex, to his recent appearance on Amy Goodman’s show defending the Honduran coup where he was an UTTER PRICK and did NOTHING but attack Amy for every goddamn question she asked. It’s as if he’d just been to Fox News intensive training camp. What a DICK. And an absolute PROSTITUTE. Gah! Just thinking of the bastard makes me need a shower.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Lanny becomes an official member of the administration. He appears to have many similar views to President Rahm.
Ommissions of fact conveniently omitted…..
Google everyone in the public eye. The perceptions created are seldom the realities inflicted upon people!
Lanny Davis a shill for corporatism, nothing more or less. His recent appearance on DemocracyNow! was a disgrace. Give him to the republicans where he belongs.
I saw that episode of DN! I wanted to jump thru my monitor and throttle the son of a bitch. Oughta send him to somewhere in Columbia where FARC can have a little tete-a-tete with him.
OT
Listening to RM rip Army? Army states: “…BCBS wrote legislation..” BCBS, a tax exempt corporation / public charity formulating policy?? Jane?????
Speaking of selling out / caving in:
White House Appears Ready to Drop ‘Public Option’
Admittedly, this is from the AP, so buyer beware.
It’s pretty clear that people have a very different vision of America. On the one hand there are people who believe all can live with some sort of mutual respect. Live and let live.
And then there are those who insist on dominating and imposing their views on everyone.
Personally I am for banishing or separation. I don’t think it’s worthwhile to fight over ideologies that can’t live together – it’s a huge distraction.
The corporations have moved into government and media and control the message. The church has moved into politics and have poisoned the minds of too many people. The wealthy have exploited the people with fear of the loss of their “freedom” and guns to state run oppression called communism or socialism.
Things are not getting better but worse. Obama may want to move things in the right direction but he seems checked at every moved by powerful forces which I am certain have made their wishes known in no uncertain terms. If he upsets the apple cart he will pay dearly and things will get really bad. So he’s trying to appease the power elite.
Time for the people to take back their government and have it serve THEIR needs not having the people serve the corporation’s needs.
Sebelios is saying co-ops are duck soup. Huffpo.
Speaking of lobbyist and disclaimers! Corporations which operate as public charities, for tax law purposes. No tax liability? Check out the 990 tax form filed and total revenue collected by tax exempt corporate health insurers in America! I wonder how much money is extracted by the “for profit” health insurers?
http://nccsdataweb.urban.org/nccsTools.php
2007 – Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (135656874)
2007 – Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association Long Term Disability Trust (510245316)
2007 – Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association Retiree Benefits Trust (364018700)
2007 – Blue Cross and Blue Shield National Retiree Health Benefits Trust (367008317)
2008 – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Foundation Inc (203085640)
2007 – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation (721232379)
2007 – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts Hmo Blue Inc (043362283)
2007 – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation (382338506)
2007 – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi Foundation (200471034)
2005 – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri Retirees Club (431583373)
2008 – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation (562226009)
2007 – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont Caring for Children Foundation Inc (651249139)
2007 – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of West Virginia Inc (311071217)
2007 – Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation on Healthcare (237164980)
2007 – Blue Cross Blue Shield Kc Credit Union (446012917)
2007 – Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation for Expanding Healthcare Access (043148824)
2007 – Blue Cross Employees Association of Rhode Island (050380370)
2007 – Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health (260024334)
2007 – Colorado Group Insurance Assoc Inc Blue Cross and Blue Shield (841116759)
2006 – Maryland Blue Cross and Blue Shield Caring Foundation (521509002)
Lanny Davis was integral in the No Scumbag Left Behind program.
-G
WRT the coup in Honduras, Hillary and Obama are on the same page as Davis.
The US position as usual is to support the wrong side. The “mediator” Oscar Arias of Costa Rica is a whore for the US. How does one mediate or compromise a fucking coup? There is no US support for the democratically elected Zelaya.
Small wonder that only the populists of Central and South America are backing Zelaya.
Lobbyist lobbying to render the American people subservient to corporations, many of which, pay no property taxes, corporate income taxes, excise taxes. So lets use the tax code to compel Americans to purchase insurance from corporations who deny coverage while being considered public charities because they “lessen the burdens of government?” Corporate Servitude crafted by lobbyists. We where talking about omitting facts, like Mr Davis did, right!
I’m not saying that Zelaya is a great guy, but he’s their jackass. Where’s the support for democracy we hold so dear? Will anyone ask Lanny Davis, Hillary or Obama?
We know where the Rethugs are – with the money/multinat’l corporate side. The Democrats are also there also too.
And what should we do about Honduras? Serious question – don’t know the answer.
Tell Lanny Davis to mind his own business for one. He has appealed to our congress to support the coup.
Davis should be in prison for what he has done and continues to do to the people of Honduras.
“Asselephants,” a hybrid genetic assimilation of “demorate” and repugs,” beholding to undue corporate influence, at odds with the interests of the governed and general welfare of the union while manipulating public opinion and the rule of law, to secure profit at life and liberty’s expense?
Indeedy.
To add insult to injury, congress and the Obama admin is adhering to Davis’s line of thinking on all things Honduran.
The criminal Davis is a sage here.
See, we can never ever be in accord with hugo chavez, even when he is right as rain. Because bill o’reilly will make fun of us.
Here’s our paragon of moral virtue, Bill Soap Bubbles O’Loofa.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/a…..kris1.html
Whole Foods is fast becoming the Walmart of the retail organic foods industry. Apart from its anti-employee choice stance, it has been busy buying up smaller “organic” retailers like Henry’s and spreading its anti-union policies.
One reason that’s important is that retail groceries remain heavily dependent on their employees. They greet you, answer your questions, deal carefully and quickly with delicate perishable foods, clean up food waste that comprises a bacterial nirvana, clean endemic spills, and reorder disarranged aisles lest customers walk out or slip and fall.
Retail groceries are hotbeds for employee abuse, including abuse of managers who do as much restocking and vegetable arranging and egg counting as newbies because chains refuse adequately to staff or compensate their people.
The industry is litigating thousands of employee and manager abuse cases. Giving in to one more union effort would make life harder for the owners. Unless, that is, they actually improved working conditions, which might improve store turnover and profits. But like auto execs and the “business consultants” who advise them, they consider improving workers’ conditions to be analogous to removing their private parts with a pocketknife.
I say let Mr. Mackey spend a day with one of the retail grocery industry’s suppliers, a fish farm. Gutting several thousand catfish a day with two fifteen minute breaks might make him more empathetic. Either that or put him en route to a bad back and carpal tunnel syndrome.
Can we make sure he gets left behind this time?
I no longer read Huffington Post.