The founder and Chief Executive Officer of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, urges his workers in Starbucks' roughly 120 Washington-area shops to write "come together" on customers' cups on Thursday and Friday, reports Reuters. President Barack Obama and lawmakers return to work and attempt to revive fiscal cliff negotiations that collapsed before the Christmas holiday.
Starbucks Corp is getting into politics once again, as it says that it will use its ubiquitous coffee cups to tell President Obama and U.S. lawmakers to come up with a deal to avoid going over the "fiscal cliff" and triggering automatic tax hikes and spending cuts.
In a blog post on the company's website, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz once again urges the nation to get involved, "There are moments in our lives when we have an opportunity to ignite tremendous positive change—not just in the lives of the customers and communities we serve every day, but in our country. This was evident in the outpouring of support in the wake of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary that claimed 26 innocent lives, including one of our partners (employees), Lauren Rousseau."
Howard Schultz says we can make a difference. "This spirit of connectedness and humanity is powerful; so powerful that if we unleash it, we can make a difference on a much grander scale."
"We're paying attention, we're greatly disappointed in what's going on and we deserve better," Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz told Reuters in a telephone interview.
CEO Howard Schultz has joined a growing list of high-powered business leaders, politicians and financial experts in endorsing the Campaign to Fix the Debt.
CEO Howard Schultz admits that the gesture is small, "but the power of small gestures is what Starbucks is about! Imagine the power of our partners and hundreds of thousands of customers each sharing such a simple message, one cup at a time."
This is the first time he has asked Starbucks partners to get involved in this manner. "Never before have we asked our partners to write something specific on our customers’ cups. These words express the optimism that’s core to the holiday season, to our country’s heritage, and to our Starbucks Mission."
CEO Howard Schultz has great hopes, "My hope is that this simple message will serve as a holiday reminder from Starbucks of the spirit that has always bridged differences and that we all have the power to come together and make a difference during every season of the year."
We are all hopeful that this "small gesture will make a big difference."
Is Washington listening?
Send John Presta an email and your story ideas or suggestions, johnpresta@att.net
John is the author of an award-winning book, the 2010 Winner of the USA National Best Book award for African-American studies, published by The Elevator Group Mr. and Mrs. Grassroots: How Barack Obama, Two Bookstore Owners, and 300 Volunteers did it. Also available an eBook on Amazon. John is also a member of the Society of Midland Authors and is a book reviewer of political books for the New York Journal of Books
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