Slog Comments
The Washington Restaurant Association Loves Republicans
2
I can't figure out what differentiates the businesses in bold from the rest, or why "my money" is represented by those businesses and not the others.
3
It's no secret among past and present restaurant workers that the WRA is a massively anti-labor, anti-tax organization. Their strongest stances are always against the minimum wage and other labor laws, with a secondary position against taxes. When I was working as a store-level manager at a major national restaurant chain, we regularly got forwarded WRA lobbying e-mails to the store manager's inbox, instructing us to instruct employees how to vote on ballot initiatives and referendums, or asking us to have our employees contact legislators.
The biggest push I remember was against a tax on bulk soda syrup. None of us (the employees) contacted our legislators as the WRA & corporate wanted us to, because we all knew that soda was basically pure profit for us - the cups, lids, and straws cost us more per-unit than the bulk syrup and CO2, so it was easy to see that the WRA's argument that this would break the budget of restaurants everywhere was false.
The biggest push I remember was against a tax on bulk soda syrup. None of us (the employees) contacted our legislators as the WRA & corporate wanted us to, because we all knew that soda was basically pure profit for us - the cups, lids, and straws cost us more per-unit than the bulk syrup and CO2, so it was easy to see that the WRA's argument that this would break the budget of restaurants everywhere was false.
4
@2 The bold ones look like restaurants most would recognize, so you don't have to read through a massive list to find them. Feel free to boycott every one on the list, not just those in bold.
Seattle City Light? WTF. At least most of the amounts were very low.
Seattle City Light? WTF. At least most of the amounts were very low.
5
So has anyone bothered to phone up Linda's or the Five Point, or Caffe Vita or any other suspiciously Seattle centric (and one would imagine more in tune with a Seattle D vibe than an R drone) places to ask them why they'd support an organization as you characterized it? I'd like to know more than what you gleaned from a PDC report, but that might be more work on your part.
6
Well, that's the most (non-disaster related) depressing thing I've read all week. Dicks? Et tu, Brute?
7
If I get the food I paid for I don't really care what they do with my money because it's no longer mine.
8
I'm no fan of the WRA political agenda, but there are plenty of good reasons for a restaurant to join the WRA that have nothing to do with politics: access to industry-wide information, market trends, vendor & supplier directories, updates on non-political public issues affecting restaurants, etc.
Many multiple-unit owners are conservative, as you might expect. Some raise a ton of money for right-wing candidates, even, and that information doesn't turn up on the list of donors & beneficiaries in this list.
Many multiple-unit owners are conservative, as you might expect. Some raise a ton of money for right-wing candidates, even, and that information doesn't turn up on the list of donors & beneficiaries in this list.
9
@7: So you'd be fine patronizing a place that used your, I'm sorry, their, money to lobby to disenfranchise you or have you arrested?
That's fucked up. You actually see yourself cattle.
That's fucked up. You actually see yourself cattle.
10
When we opened our restaurant in '05 we naively signed up as members of the WRA. When we started getting the e-mails and found out what they were lobbying for in Olympia it was like wearing polyester and we dropped that in a hurry. Yes they are very right-wing and it is a shame that they claim to represent all restaurant owners.
11
This is a bummer. So many places I had once loved. Gone from me in an instant. Thanks a lot, SLOG.
12
@5 is right - this is much bigger than a Slog post. I'd like to hear from Hale's (who rents out their place for Democratic fundraisers), Naked City Brewing and others. Do they really support Rob McKenna, Tim Eyman and the rest?
13
For what it's worth, many small food service establishment owners I know (myself included), don't support the lobbying component of the WRA, and joined for the other benefits provided to my business and my employees, including safe and healthy restaurant operations. If WRA were purely a lobbying organization, I could see the point of boycotting business who join it. But, like many things in life, not everything is perfect, and as you negotiate the complexity and challenges of running a small business, you're faced with many decisions where it's mostly good but with a few things you don't agree with, but if you backed out of every relationship with that black-and-white kind of criteria, you'd find yourself completely alone. Please at least consider that many restaurant owners are doing their best to support their communities and their staff, and don't blame them for anything done by anyone they associate with for any reason. And if you're from the WRA and reading this, perhaps you could consider splitting the lobbying element of the association off into a separate organization.
14
One more perspective: if your landlord gave $35 to a cause you didn't agree with, would you move out of your house or apartment?
15
Seriously!? So when are we all going to stop buying fuel for our cars or wearing or using almost everything that is related to petroleum because of SHELL? Use any money or credit that goes through HSBC? Or any other bank for that matter!How about the clothes you are wearing or the shoes on your feet? Oh what about the coffee you drank this morning, or any other food or beverage you consumed within the last 24 hours. Any idea where it came from exactly, or how it got to you, or who made it, and how much they were paid, or for Hell's sake who they might have voted for in the last elections!? The disparity, the use and abuse of humans, animals, products and ideas, the difference of opinions and beliefs is all around us. You can try to hide or deny, pick and choose, but not without being a hypocrite. Tread lightly is the best thing you can do, especially before you cast stones from your glass house.
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