John Schnatter, founder and CEO of Papa John’s Pizza, has joined the chorus of businessmen calling out the emperor for walking around in his birthday suit.  He is predicting that franchisees of the pizza chain will find ways to reduce the hours worked by their employees in order to be exempt from some of the provisions of Obamacare.  He has also stated that the costs of implementing the program will raise the cost of his companies product, which will probably hurt business.

Now, is Mr. Schnatter lying?  I don’t believe he is.  When a business owner, whether they employ 10 people or 100,000, knows that their costs are going to go up, they will find a way to either soften the blow or dodge it entirely.  If you are going to have to spend millions of dollars to provide health insurance to people who work more than 30 hours a week, you’d be a fool to not bring as many people as you can below 30 hours a week.  Some will call this exploiting a loophole or accuse him of gaming the system, but those are codewords for “doing something that is legal but not what some would have you do”.  And I’ve heard Alan say it many times:  Corporations don’t pay taxes, they collect them.  If the cost of doing business goes up due to Obamacare or any other regulation or tax, then the companies will pass that cost on to their customers.  The President and his advisors and allies in the Congress obviously missed that day in Economics 101.

Is Mr. Schnatter being greedy by trying to deny his employees health insurance and lowering their hours?  I’d say not.  What he is doing is being a good, prudent businessman.  Yes, a business owner has a responsibility to her employees to provide a safe and fair working environment, but she also has a responsibility to the people who finance the business.  They must keep the doors open and keep making profits in order to afford to keep paying salaries and providing benefits, even if they aren’t as comprehensive or generous as the President would like.

I’ve met Mr. Schnatter, and my family benefits by his giving to the Louisville Zoo and to my youngest son’s school.  He and his wife are gracious, selfless philanthropists who have not forgotten where they came from.  Schnatter began his pizza company as a small business owner, worked his butt off, caught lighting in a bottle, and has been running with it ever since.  He also seems to be following the example of Andrew Carnegie in that he is spreading his wealth as widely and as wisely as he can.  He is also doing it in a very low-key manner.  I know of several charitable organizations that owe a great deal to the Schatters, but it is rare that you hear about it in the news.

So no, I don’t believe that Mr. Schnatter is advocating lowering working hours for his workers as a way to up his profits.  A man who has made as much money as he has and who gives away as much as he does without seeking glory knows to put people above profits.  But I do believe that he knows that if the cost of the mandatory expenditures for Obamacare are not managed or avoided, then he will have to lay people off.  Fewer hours is better than no hours.

As for those who are calling for a boycott of Papa Johns and other companies that are working to keep the wheels on under the yoke of the healthcare law, I pledge that the publicity for this issue will indeed drive my spending decisions.  But I think you’ll be disappointed to find that I will be spending my money at businesses whose owners are good businessmen, rather than those who throw money at a soft hearted and soft headed attempt to make life better with no thought to the costs.

Congratulations, you got the economy you voted for, the business climate you voted for, and the healthcare law you voted for.  Now I will enjoy watching the light of comprehension come into your eyes as you realize that the cost of your victory will be much steeper than you were promised. Enjoy your bite of the poop sandwich you handed the country.  I’m sorry that it won’t taste quite as sweet as you thought it would.