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While reading this story, please keep this guide handy, which measures the political donations that his company makes: http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.

by sc68cal 13y ago

While reading this story, please keep this guide handy, which measures the political donations that his company makes: http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000059478&cycle=A http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000059478&cy... I should note that the latest Farm Bill attempted to decouple SNAP funds from the agriculture parts of the bill, which historically was the only way to protect SNAP benefits from being significantly slashed. http://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaarumugam/2013/07/13/republicans-cut-food-stamps-from-farm-bill-whats-the-big-deal/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaarumugam/2013/07/13/republi... So, while this is a commendable action on his part, there are individuals inside his company funding candidates and a party that advocates elimination of the entire program, because of supposed moochers and "young bucks" who go and buy steaks, abusing the system. Perhaps he can lead by example and help change some attitudes inside his company. EDIT: The political donations are from individuals in the company, instead of from a PAC the company controls. There are however, other organizations that Panera may be a part of (The Chamber of Commerce comes to mind) that also have poured a lot of money into Republican coffers.

jamesaguilar 13y ago
Ten thousand dollars per year is negligible, especially since almost half of it has gone to dems. They probably resisted the change you mentioned. If there's any doubt that your comment is talking about a non-issue, it's also worth mentioning that all those contributions are from individuals, who he is legally unable to influence. This nit doesn't even qualify as microscopic. It'd be better if you just skipped picking it. Edit: re: your edit, why would you criticize them over organizations they may be a part of?
- jlgreco 13y ago
  > criticize them over organizations they may be a part of It is the classic HN desire to be contrarian reaching new lows.
  - jamesaguilar 13y ago
    If you can't tell someone why they're wrong, you can't win, right? That seems to be the rule here, even when someone is doing something eminently sensible and helpful like trying to see things from a different perspective (in whatever limited way that might be possible).
rdl 13y ago
If I were going to judge Panera's politics, I'd probably go to more directly relevant actions (from wikipedia): "Panera Bread created Operation Dough-Nation in 1992 to formalize its commitments to community involvement. The program now has four activities: Community Breadbox cash collection boxes, the Day-End Dough-Nation program, Panera/SCRIP Card fundraising and participation in community events. The Day-End Dough-Nation program provides unsold bread and baked goods to local area hunger relief agencies and charities. In 2010, Panera Bread bakery-cafes donated a retail value of approximately $100 million worth of unsold bread and baked good to local organizations in need." This swamps any political donations by any of the employees of the company.

by sc68cal 13y ago

jamesaguilar 13y ago

Ten thousand dollars per year is negligible, especially since almost half of it has gone to dems. They probably resisted the change you mentioned. If there's any doubt that your comment is talking about a non-issue, it's also worth mentioning that all those contributions are from individuals, who he is legally unable to influence. This nit doesn't even qualify as microscopic. It'd be better if you just skipped picking it. Edit: re: your edit, why would you criticize them over organizations they may be a part of?

jlgreco 13y ago
> criticize them over organizations they may be a part of It is the classic HN desire to be contrarian reaching new lows.
- jamesaguilar 13y ago
  If you can't tell someone why they're wrong, you can't win, right? That seems to be the rule here, even when someone is doing something eminently sensible and helpful like trying to see things from a different perspective (in whatever limited way that might be possible).

rdl 13y ago

If I were going to judge Panera's politics, I'd probably go to more directly relevant actions (from wikipedia): "Panera Bread created Operation Dough-Nation in 1992 to formalize its commitments to community involvement. The program now has four activities: Community Breadbox cash collection boxes, the Day-End Dough-Nation program, Panera/SCRIP Card fundraising and participation in community events. The Day-End Dough-Nation program provides unsold bread and baked goods to local area hunger relief agencies and charities. In 2010, Panera Bread bakery-cafes donated a retail value of approximately $100 million worth of unsold bread and baked good to local organizations in need." This swamps any political donations by any of the employees of the company.