http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/08/16/business-financial-administration-us-starbucks-ceo_8626800.htmlAssociated Press
Starbucks CEO urges campaign donation boycott
Associated Press, 08.16.11, 07:36 PM EDT
PORTLAND, Ore. --
Starbucks Corp. CEO Howard Schultz is urging other CEOs to not contribute to any U.S. political campaigns until the nation's leaders resolve its finances.The leader of the coffee giant urged the halt in contributions as concern builds over the effect that political wrangling in Washington, D.C., may be having on the economy.
To merit any further political donations,
Congress and the President must "deliver a fiscally disciplined, long-term debt and deficit plan to the American people," Schultz wrote in an email Monday that reached the leaders of more than 3,000 publicly traded companies.
"We invite leaders of businesses - indeed all concerned Americans - to join us in this pledge," he wrote.
Schultz first wrote to a smaller group of CEOs on Friday. He said this week that his subsequent conversations showed him that many people share his concern that a crisis of confidence is growing. He blamed political wrangling over the federal debt and deficit for that uncertainty and for Standard & Poor's downgrading the nation's credit rating.
"Our national elected officials from both parties have failed to lead," he wrote. "They have chosen to put partisan and ideological purity over the wellbeing of the people. They have undermined the full faith and credit of the United States. They have stirred up fears about our economic prospects without doing anything to truly address those fears."
Schultz urged other executives to accelerate job creation and growth in their industries and said corporations may have to replace services that are cut by the government.
"We have a responsibility as well as an opportunity not to be bystanders but to act in ways that can ease the collective anxiety," Schultz wrote in a separate email to employees on Monday.
Schultz is not alone among U.S. business leaders in speaking out. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, writing in a New York Times opinion piece Monday, criticized the government's treatment of the "mega-rich."
"My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress," Buffett wrote. "It's time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice."
Buffett urged that the nation's very wealthiest taxpayers be required to pay more in taxes - and not the other 99.7 percent of taxpayers. The chairman and CEO of Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett said that will be key to restoring faith in the government's ability to deal with the country's fiscal problems. He has called for higher taxes on the super wealthy for several years. He has said the current tax system has contributed to the growing gap between rich and poor in the United States.
Shares of Starbucks rose 47 cents to close at $38.89 Tuesday.
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And i fucking hate starbucks and their coffee. but i like this!
