Obama Sandwiches Himself
Last week our president chose the setting of Ann Arbor, Michigan and a youthful audience at the University of Michigan to defend his argument for increasing the minimum wage from the current $7.25 per hour to $10.10 by 2016. In an obviously staged, pre-speech lunch, the prez had a Reuben sandwich at Zingerman’s Deli. He then used that luncheon experience to springboard into his argument for a higher minimum wage by noting that Zingerman’s pays its employees a fair wage, the implication being that Z’s nobly pays more than the minimum wage.
Well that’s all well and good until you get curious, as I did, and find Zingerman’s menu online. Talk about sticker shock. Were I, like most Americans, to walk into this place off the street and open that menu, I’d most likely be heading for the door, looking for an eating place more in line with my budget.
Now, I love a Reuben, and I’ve had them in delis and restaurants from coast to coast, but I have to tell you there is absolutely no way I’m paying more than sixteen bucks for one, except maybe at the now sadly defunct Stage Deli in Manhattan. If you go here, you’ll see that’s pretty much the situation with Zingerman’s. Eat there, and you’re gonna get zinged.
How those clever planners who set up these presidential stunts could not have foreseen this obvious trap they let their boss walk into is beyond me. For crying out loud, you vacuous fools, the single strongest argument against raising the minimum wage is that it will result in higher prices to the public and reductions in employment. Yet you let your boss go through his pre-speech prepping in a place that proves exactly the truth of that? And then you let him use it as his springboard? It’s fine that Zingerman’s shares its largesse with employees, but irony all but drips from this presidential lead-in: “Hey, I had a great sandwich at a place that fairly compensates its employees.”
Yeah, well, Mr. President, you got your sandwich in a place that charges prices that most Americans in flyover country would find unbelievable, unaffordable, and damnably near to being un-American. Hey, Barry, you were in flyover country, not on one of the coastal enclaves where such egregious price-gouging is accepted as standard practice. And we Americans are required to allow this clueless president and his out-of-touch advisors to represent us on the world stage?
Too bad Zingerman’s couldn’t have served Barry a 21st-century variation of the Reuben, such as a Putin – a much meatier concoction, with a hint of bear flavor, definitely tougher to chew and damned near impossible to swallow.
Crossposted at American Thinker
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden
I can hear Putin now, “Wait, wait, lets me get dis correcstly, you say Obamas just pay 16 American dollar for Reuben??? We gots Reuben here! Only pay about 100 Ruble! What da hell wrong wit dat dipsshits! Hey Boris for jokes lets us send a dozen Reuben to Whites House wit sides of red cabbage! Good Russian Reuben! I says it before I says it again, dat Obamas is an ass hat! I loves dim American, how dey say…Da..digs! Nows where is my 230 Chechnen. He been “tuned” up yet?”
Sure we can pay our minimum wage workers $10-12 an hour… and replace them with kiosks that take orders, raise the cost of everything proportionally, and have higher unemployment and inflation.
Yep, and when they start paying $10.10/hour, watch the rush to animation for fast food. There’ll be one or two workers in the back, one to load the food into the automated cooker, and one to take it out and slap it on a bun and apply the sauce, wrap it and bag it.
If you buy fast food, prepare for the onset of not-so-fast food.
“Hey, Barry, you were in flyover country, not on one of the coastal enclaves where such egregious price-gouging….”
Ummm… He was in Ann Arbor, Michigan, home of the University of Michigan, and like all large college town it tilts so far to the left you have to hang on to something so you don’t fall off. Cost of living has always been higher in Ann Arbor even 40 years back when I lived there.
NW checking in…those prices are more than twice what our local specialty sandwich shop charges for their concoctions. And they deliver, too.
O’Bummer and his boys strike again.
It could be that he just forgot that $16 dollars is a bit much for a sandwich. You know, $16 trillion, $16… Sounds about the same.
Farflung Wanderer…as to sandwiches, $16 here and $16 there and pretty soon you’re talking real money.
It brought Everett Dirksen’s “attributed” comment to mind.
Years ago, I never went into NYC without stopping for a hot pastrami on rye, heavy mustard, pickle side, and a cold beer. Well, I’m not in NY and I would never order that sandwich (or buy cheesecake, expecting it to taste any good) outside of NYC. Thanks, Poetrooper.
Previous American presidents (Democrat or Republican) made an effort to at least appear, show that they could identify with the working citizen. The Obamas go out of their way, it seems, to show how they can live royally and ostentatiously. I still scratch my head to understand why so many supported this attitude for two administrations.
Two words: Free shit.
I wonder if he had Arugula on it? That would drive the price up a bit. And you know he does love him some Arugula.
$16 sounds perfectly reasonable for a sandwich made of some crazy exotic meat (hammerhead shark, blue whale, bengal tiger, etc) that comes with a blowjob.
Not that the Glorious Leader gives a shit about the price. It’s not like it came out of his pocket…
I have an issue with upping the minimum wage. I have a job that pays 16 an hour. In order to get that job you need to go through a law enforcement academy, must be EMT 1-3 certified (depending on job location), must be state certified to administer DOT drug and alcohol tests, must hold a CDL, must have specialized training regarding to your position and performing in the extreme conditions of the North Slope, must maintain state armed guard license and weapon qualifications. All of this is training I had to have before I got the position. If you want a better paying job, go out and get the education for a field that pays a decent wage. Don’t expect to get a decent pay without having the skillset to go with it.
Very well put. If you don’t want earn minimum wage for the rest of your life, learn a marketable skill. Some people complain that they cannot support a family on minimum wage. No shit, Einsteins. The last time I made minimum wage was in high school, and that was a long, long time ago. You show up to work on time with a good attitude for two weeks in a row, and you will get a raise. But those with no education (pursuing GEDs at age 35 does not count), no skills, no ambition and thinking the world owes them something seem to be perfectly content sitting on their asses waiting for their government assistance. Somehow, President Obama believes that they are “paying their fair share”, while those evil people that go to work everyday and pay their taxes need to “get more skin the game”.
I went to the website and checked the menu- Barry’s sammich was actually $16.99, before whatever Michigan charges for tax. And did he tip 20%?
He didn’t tip 20%…but I bet we did..
http://www.mentalfloss.com/article.php?id=20681
All presidents pay for their own food and incidentals, state dinners aside.
Used to eat at this Deli, but the menu board got too confusing. The big menu board was in several sections, on different walls and written in colored chalk, making it hard to find your choice let alone read it.
I got the biggest kick watching all those students cheering and clapping while the president called for a higher minimum wage. I mean, given his policies, the minimum wage might be all they make upon graduation.
Of course it was staged, presidents don’t just ‘pop into’ places, there’s a huge amount of choreography involved. While a bunch of folks are busy planning the logistics/security of the visit, might as well have a parallel team of party wonks plan the politics of it–two birds.
That said, I’m pretty well against raising minimum wage. It brings me closer to it. Now, I’ve never made minimum wage, and I’ve done entry level fast food and retail. When I was at my closest (fast food), I was part-time and living at home. Like most I knew in that income bracket, all of my income was disposable. Back then I REALLY didn’t want them to raise it–because then I would have been on the absolute bottom of the bottom, and that would have really done a number on my sense of self-worth.
OK, if I go into this Deli and order a Reuben
with my new wage of $10.10 and hour, I’m still
$5.90 short?
Yes, and don’t think about ordering a drink to go with the sandwich you still can’t afford.
Anyone wanna bet on the cost of the same Reuben, if the minimum wage goes up about $3.00? Cuz, somewhere in that particular retail chain, there’s someone making minimum wage, which will eventually effect the rest of the chain.
Ooh I know this one: Senator Barrypatine is engineering a war with the evil Trade Federation. He will send in the clone troopers & declare himself Emperor “to usher in a period of peace & prosperity.”
Two questions come to mind:
1. Which of Hildebeast, Biteme or Kerry is JarJar fkkn Binks?
2. Didn’t any of his advisers tell him that he’s copying the crap trilogy? Or what happens to the Emperor?
You just never know where you’ll be served a good Reuben. Sure, there are some places from my past that I knew, thanks to the good ol’ boy world traveler from South Carolina who mentored me, the real deal was just waiting for me to bite into it, like Stage Deli in Manhattan and Wolfie’s in Miami Beach.
But I have to tell you, having eaten Reuben’s all over this country, one of the best I ever had was in the wilds of of the southern portion of Sequoia National Forest in Southern California about three years ago. In a little wide spot in the road is a place called Camp Nelson where the only place to obtain warm victuals is Mo’s Diner about a half mile off the highway.
We certainly weren’t expecting much but Oh Damn what the two ladies running the place served up was beyond delicious. Here I was in the middle of nowhere and I got a Reuben that might not have been quite as thick as Stage Deli or Wolfie’s but damn all it was close and still one of the best I’ve ever had. And it cost me about half of what you get Zinged for in Ann Arbor. Oh, and the beer was ice cold and reasonably priced. You simply can’t beat that combination in my book.
So you never know what you’ll find where….
Damn Poetrooper, you activated my memory button. I know Camp Nelson well, and Mo’s. I was a Deputy Sheriff in the county there for several years. We had residence post throughout the county areas of the Sierras. Another great place if you go further North to Badger is Badger Mountain House. Best cheeseburgers in the country and the beer just short of frozen. They have a FB page,
Y’all made me go buy a corned beef today lol. Have good rye bread and spicy mustard ready, plus crunchy kosher dills, then corned beef hash for brunch next morning!
Zingerman’s sandwiches are freaking huge, and delicious. And your point is well taken! When my son moved to Ann Arbor, I reminded him that he could get a job anywhere, but it might be two or three jobs. A college town like AA is insulated and there is a ton of money to be made if you want a job. My other kid, also in AA, worked three jobs and went to UM. I see no argument for raising the Minimum for the minimum. It just doesn’t make sense.
Zingerman’s does have awesome sandwiches…and their reuben is my favorite…but it ain’t worth that much money. I think the average menu item is $18