PIZZA: Politics on those pies

I was saddened by the article on July 4 describing how Mr. Jim Hightower, the owner of four local Domino’s Pizza franchises, was potentially impacted by the upcoming Obamacare.

The article quoted Mr. Hightower, who I believe is a proud Reagan Republican, saying that, “if he was forced to provide much needed health care for his 80 hard working employees, he would have to raise the price of his pizzas from $6 to $15” — in other words, $9 per pizza.

You will have to forgive me, but I’ve always been good at two things: 1) Understanding numbers and the relationship of different numbers; and 2) When someone might be using numbers to make an argument that only works with people who aren’t good at numbers.

Based on the fact, as stated by Mr. Hightower, that Obamacare would cost an additional $105,000 a year in expenses for his four restaurants, and the $9 figure, that would mean that all four restaurants are selling fewer than 12,000 pizzas a year; 3,000 per restaurant; less than 60 per week, per restaurant, less than 10 a day per restaurant.

Then I recall that Mr. Hightower said he has 80 employees; 20 per restaurant. I’m pretty sure that translates into a bigger problem for Mr. Hightower. He evidently has 20 people, at each restaurant, making less than 10 pizzas a day.

This confused argument reminds me of the last time I visited another restaurant, hosting the monthly Reagan Republicans, where throwing allegations that didn’t make any sense was commonplace.

I wish Mr. Hightower the best of luck, getting his employees to be a little more productive. I know that I will definitely be ordering one of those carefully prepared pizzas from this good employer.

HARLEY DUFF

Coeur d’Alene