Starbucks to Begin Collecting $5 Donations

[acidhead]

Starbucks to Begin Collecting Donations to Stimulate U.S. Job Growth

http://seattle.cbslocal.com/2011/10/03/starbucks-to-begin-collecting-donations-to-stimulate-u-s-job-growth/

October 3, 2011

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Starbucks hopes customers will be willing to pay at least $5 more when they stop in for their morning cup of Joe. Starting Nov. 1, Starbucks will begin collecting donations of $5 or more from customers to stimulate U.S. job growth through its “Jobs for USA” program.

*snip*

*****

Hmmmmmmm... the problem is demand not available credit.... hellllllllllllloooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Not sure why some, including people here, praise this Zandi dude as a respectable economic analyst when I ask them where they get their information from. He's dead wrong on this one.

Edited October 4, 2011 by Saru
Article shortened for copyright reasons

[conspiracybeliever]

I hope they can make it without my five bucks cause they ain't gettin' it. I hate Starbucks coffee anyways. And I'm a coffee drinker.

[Order66]

I think this is a great program, I hope some other companies will do that same.

[Princess Serenity]

They might get some money from me if they keep making their hot choco so delicious. :3

[Corp]

Well if it goes towards struggling small businesses and actually helped them I don't see how this is a bad thing.

[acidhead]

It's circle jerk economics. Starbucks are creating their own economic bubble. And who will suffer? The same people who bought into its scheme. Remember the line, 'the bigger they get the harder they fall'. No doubt, Starbucks CEO chief is a dumbocrat.

[Bendy Demon]

How is that extra five bucks going to help ME get job?

In fact, how is asking for donations going to actually do anything?

How can we even be certain that this money is actually going towards what they claim it will go towards?

I fail to see how this will help create jobs, maybe if we would rely a little less on technology to get things done and more on using people power then perhaps it will wok but if all it does is fund more high tech, computer controlled devices then people like me will still be out of as job, resorting to flipping greasy burgers and living the rest of my life out of a sleeping room.

[MissMelsWell]

It's circle jerk economics. Starbucks are creating their own economic bubble. And who will suffer? The same people who bought into its scheme. Remember the line, 'the bigger they get the harder they fall'. No doubt, Starbucks CEO chief is a dumbocrat.

Actually, I happen to know starbucks CEO personally and he's anything BUT dumb. Howard is actually brilliant. He retired as CEO of Starbucks several years back and a new CEO was put into place. That guy did some bad things, Howard punted him and took his job back as CEO and they're doing better now than ever. That should tell you something. I'd go back to work for him in a heart beat, and there's not too many companies I've worked I feel that way about.

[Stellar]

I'm assuming Starbucks is asking for these donations since they themselves dont have the money to fund additional wages and the ancillary expenses?

Ironically, the lower class will end up probably funding the creation of these additional lower class jobs. It seems like this will serve to average out the income of the lower class majority.

[Corp]

I believe in the article it said this wasn't for Starbucks but for other small companies that could use some additional cash. And it's not like anyone is being forced to donate anything.

[acidhead]

I believe in the article it said this wasn't for Starbucks but for other small companies that could use some additional cash. And it's not like anyone is being forced to donate anything.

The article states that it's for BOTH.

Schultz said he feels personal responsibility to do something to stimulate the U.S. economy. Starbucks is hiring about 200 people a day in the U.S. as part of its efforts to remodel thousands of stores and add about 200 more locations in the next year. But Schultz said he wanted to do more.

Starbucks is covering the operational costs to get loans out through the program, which will run indefinitely. Its charitable arm, The Starbucks Foundation, is giving $5 million to get the program started, with the hope that funds will be invested in communities within a month of a donation being made.

It's a circle jerk stimulus program.... but it's effects will wear off just as the effects of caffeine does. But who benefits? Starbucks Inc. benefits. How? They use their NON-PROFIT front companies to create the loan program to sucker people into investing in their company when the banks are not lending and than when tax time comes around they use these expenses to write down total gross income of the company. Also, when many of these new start up companies and franchises fail under the current economic stress than Starbucks simply writes off the failures again lowering its gross and pleasing shareholders.

It's a circle jerk. It's shocking that many can't see through it.

The only way this venture would seem good is if we actually were experiencing happy economic times and a stead fast economy. Sure, it sounds great, a well intentioned program - but it's only temporary relief. There is no guarantee of any long term success. I feel bad for the people who will get suckered into this and be left holding the bag.

Edited October 4, 2011 by acidhead

[Order66]

It's a circle jerk stimulus program.... but it's effects will wear off just as the effects of caffeine does. But who benefits? Starbucks Inc. benefits. How? They use their NON-PROFIT front companies to create the loan program to sucker people into investing in their company when the banks are not lending and than when tax time comes around they use these expenses to write down total gross income of the company. Also, when many of these new start up companies and franchises fail under the current economic stress than Starbucks simply writes off the failures again lowering its gross and pleasing shareholders.

Meanwhile Warren Buffett the Uncle Tom capitalist has a billion dollars in delinquent taxes while proclaiming the rich need to pay more. Why not write a billion dollar check to the IRS to be used for new business loans? Jobs for USA is a program that will use money by the people for the people without class warfare and political theatre and coercion. It takes a corporate CEO of Starbucks to do what the government proclaims to be doing but isn't. It is community organizing. The Democrats should take notes.

[+DieChecker]

I'm all for charity and Giving, but what is the point again? To give money to small businesses?

What is this then, Spending with no Product?

[el midgetron]

starbuck-onomics

For just $5 you can help a giant corporation destroy small businesses.

[acidhead]

Oh boy................. this is indeed a front organization for the Banks and Casinos who were bailed out!

Glad I don't drink starbucks coffee... it tastes burnt.... like you've just been burned.

*****

The group running the scheme is funded by the very same big banks who received trillions in bailout funds that are still deliberately withholding loans from struggling Americans in order to make money off the interest on deposits held with the Federal Reserve.

The establishment media has spun the move as a rare example of a transnational corporation giving something back to the people, when in reality the move will largely benefit the Wall Street institutions and giant banks who fund the Opportunity Finance Network.

What the corporate press is loathe to report is the fact that the OFN, while posing as a philanthropic financial refuge for poor Americans, is little more than a Wall Street front organization. It is bankrolled by the likes of Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Morgan Stanley.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Starbucks hopes customers will be willing to pay at least $5 more when they stop in for their morning cup of Joe.

Starting Nov. 1, Starbucks will begin collecting donations of $5 or more from customers to stimulate U.S. job growth through its “Jobs for USA” program. The Seattle-based coffee chain is collaborating with the Opportunity Finance Network, a nonprofit that works with nearly 200 community development financial institutions to provide loans to small businesses and community groups.

The following link is Opportunity Finance Network's press release for Starbucks dated October 3, 2011:

http://www.opportunityfinance.net/uploadedfiles/Press/Press_Releases/Create.Jobs.for.USA.10.3.11.pdf

Opportunity Finance Network's 'About' link on their website:

http://www.opportunityfinance.net/about/default.aspx?id=5744

Our Supporters

Opportunity Finance Network is grateful for the generous support of its funding partners and investors. If you are interested in supporting local communities through a partnership with Opportunity Finance Network, contact Greg Schiefelbein, Executive Vice President of External Relations, at 215-320-4302.

Recent funding partners and investors:

Ally Financial

Ameriprise Bank, FSB

Annie E. Casey Foundation

Bank Hapoalim, B.M.

Bank of America

Bank of the West

BBVA Compass

Calvert Social Investment Foundation

Capital One

Catholic Health Initiatives

Catholic Healthcare West

CDFI Fund, U.S. Department of the Treasury

Charles Schwab Bank

Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

Citi

Clients of Trillium Asset Management

Community Reinvestment Fund, USA

Deutsche Bank

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

F.B. Heron Foundation

Federal Home Loan Banks

Gadfly Trust

Goldman Sachs

HSBC Bank USA, N.A.

Jewish Funds for Justice

JPMorgan Chase

Karuna Trust

Kresge Foundation

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)

MetLife

Morgan Stanley

NeighborWorks America

New Mexico Community Capital

Northwest Area Foundation

Ohio Capital Corp for Housing

PNC Bank

Presbyterian Foundation

Prudential, Inc.

Rabobank

Riverside Church

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

San Francisco Foundation

Silicon Valley Bank

Sunrise Community Banks

SunTrust Bank

TCF National Bank

The California Endowment

The Ford Foundation

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Threshold Foundation

Union Bank

U.S. Bank

W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Wells Fargo

Woodlands Investment Management

The Opportunity Finance Network Conference offers exceptional visibility in the community development financial institution (CDFI) industry to Sponsors and Exhibitors. Learn more about becoming a Conference Sponsor or Exhibitor.

The Opportunity Finance Network Financing Fund offers a social investment vehicle enabling both institutional and individual investors to invest in a diverse portfolio of CDFIs. Learn more about investing with Opportunity Finance Network.

“The ‘Create Jobs for USA’ fund has been made in partnership with Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), a group of private financial institutions that provide affordable loans to low-income people and communities,” reports the Daily Mail.

However, the OFN’s financial backers include the very banks and financial institutions, JP Morgan prime amongst them, who deliberately withheld loans paid for with bailout money that were supposed to kick start the US economy.

After former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson sold Congress on the initial $700 billion dollar bailout by promising it would be used to buy up banks’ toxic assets and unfreeze credit markets, as soon as the legislation was passed the money was used instead to prop up failing banks as part of a re-capitalization process, and millions of Americans were denied desperately needed loans. Most of the bailout money, which went on to total trillions, went to foreign banks. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-01/foreign-banks-tapped-fed-s-lifeline-most-as-bernanke-kept-borrowers-secret.html

The Federal Reserve made at least $16 trillion in secret loans to big banks including Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, the very groups behind the Opportunity Finance Network, and not a penny of that money went to ordinary Americans.

For Starbucks to claim that it is collecting donation money from the American people to help fund affordable loans for poor people and then handing that money to a group completely bankrolled by the very entities who refused to provide affordable loans at the height of the financial crisis, and took trillions of dollars in secret from the Fed, is the height of hypocrisy.

Thanks to Paul Joseph Watson http://www.infowars.com/starbucks-launches-jobs-for-usa-pr-stunt-with-wall-street-front-group/

Infowars.com

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

check out the green halo over Starbuck's CEO's head in the Dailymail article http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2045082/Starbucks-CEO-Howard-Schultz-launches-5m-US-jobs-fund.html?ito=feeds-newsxml .... priceless*

Edited October 5, 2011 by acidhead

[WoIverine]

Was just at publix, want to know what else is 5 bucks now? Nearly any name brand box of cereal. Ridiculous.

[Order66]

No Starbucks doesn't demand, they ask. Bank of America demands $5.00 for debit card fees, thanks to new federal regulations. So on the news yesterday I got to hear Democrats trashing the Starbucks charity, but encouraging people basically to make a run on Bank on America because of fees the Democrats are responsible for. Honestly it's the the funniest thing I've ever seen. I think at the heart of it, Democrats hate seeing big corporations being the bleeding hearts just like they hate seeing the Tea Party protesting in the street, they feel the other side is stealing their gig. Giving is a great thing until somebody on the other side of the aisle does it

Edited October 5, 2011 by Halloween78

[libstaK]

I'm all for charity and Giving, but what is the point again? To give money to small businesses?

What is this then, Spending with no Product?

Exactly - since when is private profit driven business a charitable concern? - we're (or you, we don't have Starbucks in Aust - we did but they left in a huff saying there didn't seem to be a market for high grade coffee - Gloria Jeans is doing just fine and McCafe is taking off big time but ... I digress) you are now supposed to reach into our barely making ends meet little salaries and wages and help the next wannabe 1% er make it up that slimy ladder?

Give your $5 to a real charity or even better your time, community and compassion create their own networks and opportunities .

[acidhead]

No Starbucks doesn't demand, they ask. Bank of America demands $5.00 for debit card fees, thanks to new federal regulations. So on the news yesterday I got to hear Democrats trashing the Starbucks charity, but encouraging people basically to make a run on Bank on America because of fees the Democrats are responsible for. Honestly it's the the funniest thing I've ever seen. I think at the heart of it, Democrats hate seeing big corporations being the bleeding hearts just like they hate seeing the Tea Party protesting in the street, they feel the other side is stealing their gig. Giving is a great thing until somebody on the other side of the aisle does it

hahaha... whoever made that video(posted on the DailyMail's article) used the word 'demand'..... I realize Starbucks is 'asking politely' to give $5 bucks to their loan program.

But while you slam Bank of America....... do consider:

BOA is part of the same group of investors that Starbucks just joined...... along with Citi, Goldman Sachs, Well Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, etc...

They are now in bed together.... do the math... BOA just increased fees $5 bucks and now Starbucks is asking for a $5 dollar donation and than they loan it back with all the same interest and loan agreements currently being used by banks. And what does Goldman play a part in this scheme?.... casino time... yahoooooo!

At the end of the day, all the money was the taxpayers money to begin with!

I need to get into banking.

Edited October 5, 2011 by acidhead

[WoIverine]

hahaha... whoever made that video(posted on the DailyMail's article) used the word 'demand'..... I realize Starbucks is 'asking politely' to give $5 bucks to their loan program.

But while you slam Bank of America....... do consider:

BOA is part of the same group of investors that Starbucks just joined...... along with Citi, Goldman Sachs, Well Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, etc...

They are now in bed together.... do the math... BOA just increased fees $5 bucks and now Starbucks is asking for a $5 dollar donation and than they loan it back with all the same interest and loan agreements currently being used by banks. And what does Goldman play a part in this scheme?.... casino time... yahoooooo!

At the end of the day, all the money was the taxpayers money to begin with!

I need to get into banking.

Thanks Acidhead for shedding some light on the goings on, I somehow am not surprised in the least that they'd pull a stunt like this. Starbucks won't be getting my money at all.

[BlindMessiah]

How exactly is this going to stimulate demand?

[Grandpa Greenman]

I hope they can make it without my five bucks cause they ain't gettin' it. I hate Starbucks coffee anyways. And I'm a coffee drinker.

I hate their coffee, too. Most of their drinks have way to many calories.

Does Starbucks have health insurance for their employees? I don't mean managers, I mean the average Joe's behind the counters. I have worked for many small businesses and the majority of them didn't pay much or have any benefits. Do we really want an economy of part time jobs and wages you can't live on?

[MissMelsWell]

I hate their coffee, too. Most of their drinks have way to many calories.

Does Starbucks have health insurance for their employees? I don't mean managers, I mean the average Joe's behind the counters. I have worked for many small businesses and the majority of them didn't pay much or have any benefits. Do we really want an economy of part time jobs and wages you can't live on?

I can shed light on that question being I worked for them for years.

Yes, they have EXCELLENT benefits for ALL their employees. Stock options, 100% health care if you work over 20 hours per week, 80% if you work less than 20 hours per week (unless something has changed in the last few years, but if it had, I would think that would be news here in Seattle, which I watch pretty carefully). They also have full vision, average dental, they used to have a special plan for podiatry care (I don't know if they still do though) and when I worked for them, because I worked full time, before I was a manager, it only cost me $20 a month to cover my child on my policy. I'm guessing that's higher now, but they always try to make it as reasonable as they can. This is why you see so many young college aged people and retired people working at Starbucks... it's not about the pay, which is barely over minimum wage (managers make a crap load) it's about the benefits. Starbucks takes care of its people.

A lot of people don't like their coffee. I still love it. I love what's called a Full City Roast flavor. It's very dark, it's very toasty. There are other companies that also do a Full City Roast on their beans, but most coffee companies use a plain City Roast or what's called an American Roast. It's lighter. It's a matter of what you like in regards to flavor. I like the toasty flavors of the Full City, Vienna and French/Espresso roasts. But it is an aquired taste to a degree. Pete Coffee out of San Francisco who Starbucks has a friendly rivalry with is primarily a Vienna roaster. Their coffees are really dark and smokey, but I like them too. And, I don't worry too much about calories... I don't drink the bar drinks with all the crap in them. I'm classic, I actually like my coffee brewed, straight up, no foo-foo stuff. Or, I'll drink a straight espresso on occasion.

Edited October 7, 2011 by MissMelsWell