MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

The examples below are a drop in the bucket. Many restaurant employees who voted for Obama are now beginning to develop a sour taste in the mouth. Elections have consequences …

By Kemberlee Kaye – “Business owners nationwide are making preparations for the upcoming Obamacare regulatory tsunami. Citing cumbersome regulations and costs, entrepreneurs are being forced to make very difficult decisions. The stories are becoming all too common. In order to keep their businesses afloat, companies are laying off workers, reducing their hours and in some cases, closing locations.

The problem is not industry specific either. Energy companies, technology companies, retail establishments and restaurants are all facing the economic challenges created by Obamacare. Following the re-election of President Obama, several restauranteurs have gone to the press to express their disastifaction with the President’s hallmark legislation.

Yesterday, Florida restaurant owner, John Metz explained that in preparation for the January 2014 regulatory onslaught, he will be forced to take drastic measures. Metz owns 40 Denny’s locations, several Dairy Queens and the Hurricane Grill & Wings franchise. In order to offset the cost of Obamacare, Metz is considering adding a 5% surcharge to all purchases, effectively passing the cost on to the consumer.

But the consumer would not be the only affected party. According the Huffington Post, Metz plans to meet with employees next month to explain, ‘that because of Obamacare, we are going to be cutting front-of-the-house employees to under 30 hours, effective immediately.’ Metz went on to say, ‘I think it’s a terrible thing. It’s ridiculous that the maximum hours we can give people is 28 hours a week instead of 40. It’s going to force my employees to go out and get a second job.'” Read more.

Zane Tankel, Applebee’s Franchisee, Says He Won’t Hire Because Of Obamacare – “‘We’ve calculated it will [cost] some millions of dollars across our system. So what does that say — that says we won’t build more restaurants. We won’t hire more people,’ Zane Tankel, chairman and CEO of Apple-Metro, told Fox Business Network on Thursday. Apple-Metro, which runs 40 Applebee’s restaurants, employs from 80 to 300 people at each of its locations. Obamacare mandates that businesses with more than 50 workers must offer an approved insurance plan or pay a penalty of $2,000 for each full-time worker over 30 workers.” Read more.

Papa John’s to Reduce Workers Hours Due to Obamacare – “Papa John’s workers will have their hours reduced due to Obamacare, Huffington Post reports Nov. 9. The pizza chain’s CEO, John Schnatter, said now that President Obama has been re-elected he plans to pass the expense of the nation’s new health care plan down to his workers — which means less hours… John Schnatter might be getting a lot of criticism for the prices raised on Papa John’s pizza and reducing his workers’ hours, but people can expect to see more of this in order to support Obamacare.” Read more.

Obamacare May Force Owner Of ‘Jim’s Restaurants’ To Fire Full-Time Employees – “‘Many of us are left out there hanging, so to speak, in a holding pattern, because we don’t know,’ said Jimmy Hasslocher, the owner of Jim’s Restaurants. His local chain has 1100 employees, which is enough to trigger mandatory health insurance for full-time employees — one of the rules in the Affordable Care Act. Hasslocher said there’s a slim profit margin in food sales, so something’s going to have to give. And it just may be his full-time employees.” Read more.