The Goat Pen

lol @ Nordstrom concerns

The ship is listing badly and the lifeboats are being lowered yet curiously a fuss erupts as some wonder if a dinner jacket should be worn over the life vest or under.

bluetick wrote:lol @ Nordstrom concerns

The ship is listing badly and the lifeboats are being lowered yet curiously a fuss erupts as some wonder if a dinner jacket should be worn over the life vest or under.

Exactly

BigRedMan wrote:So question to the panel:

What do you think of Nordstrom's and other places that refuse to work / carry Trump items?

From my understanding, Nordstrom's dropped most of her line because of sales. The Ivanka products were down as much as 26% along some lines in the 4th quarter (if I'm recalling the timeline of the data accurately). It's more a statement on the politics of Nordstrom shoppers than any decision Nordstrom is making. Nordstrom is acting like a business, in my view.

underarmor sales are down 25% right now too.

Old white guys don't buy that shit.

speaking of which

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... a-of-trump

that's really testimony to the power of social media.

Growing up you ever remember a nationwide boycott that worked? I guess for me the most prominent was "buy American" but only a handful of people were willing to pay 20% more for stuff that was the same quality. I can't think of a boycott where people talked about it at the local coffee shop like they would on social media.

But now - fuck..you put the wrong design on your coffee cup and social media has 4 million people stop buying your product in less than 48 hours.

Ecom is only 10% of US retail sales. B&M is far from dead.

Under Armour has made a few missteps in direction and product...and they got more involved in the political arena than they should have, considering their consumer base.

I think its idiotic for any of them to get involved in the political arena

remember the old adage - never discuss politics, sex or religion?

why in the world would a CEO dive in the middle of this ?

I think they get baited into it, a bit. The political climate is so feverish right now, no one can do press and not be asked a question that involves politics. All it takes is one answer to burn you.

Bklyn wrote:I think they get baited into it, a bit. The political climate is so feverish right now, no one can do press and not be asked a question that involves politics. All it takes is one answer to burn you.

yea but still - I'd be upfront about it - "I'm paid to deliver the best blah blah blah, not interject my political opinion into the marketplace".

Same with actors .

eCat wrote:I think its idiotic for any of them to get involved in the political arena

remember the old adage - never discuss politics, sex or religion?

why in the world would a CEO dive in the middle of this ?

Why, indeed. Trump dove in with the birther ridiculousness...and then parlayed that into a run for the Oval Office. Were his motives pure - did he see the president's origin of birth as a legitimate national security issue? Or was it a play to get attention and further the Trump brand? Those questions are every bit as relevant today as they were 8 years ago, I think most would agree.

Trump may not be a good example on second thought. Things have worked out pretty well.. for the Chik-Fil-A guy.

bluetick wrote:

eCat wrote:I think its idiotic for any of them to get involved in the political arena

remember the old adage - never discuss politics, sex or religion?

why in the world would a CEO dive in the middle of this ?

Why, indeed. Trump dove in with the birther ridiculousness...and then parlayed that into a run for the Oval Office. Were his motives pure - did he see the president's origin of birth as a legitimate national security issue? Or was it a play to get attention and further the Trump brand? Those questions are every bit as relevant today as they were 8 years ago, I think most would agree.

Trump brand? I doubt it

The Trump presidency? Likely

eCat wrote:

Bklyn wrote:I think they get baited into it, a bit. The political climate is so feverish right now, no one can do press and not be asked a question that involves politics. All it takes is one answer to burn you.

yea but still - I'd be upfront about it - "I'm paid to deliver the best blah blah blah, not interject my political opinion into the marketplace".

Same with actors .

Actually, it's pretty hard for a CEO in that respect. If you are asked about the impact of the appearance of an administration's hostility to foreigners on your workforce, you have to make a statement directly on that point. I'm sure there is a line wide enough to tip toe on without being seen as (improperly) political to consumers as well as supportive by some in your workforce, but it's not easy. It's gets especially dicey when the POTUS tees off directly at your corporation, industry or competition. I don't envy task. CEO's get paid well to navigate these types of things, it just normally doesn't hit the airwaves in prominent fashion. As you said (I think it was you), social media dials up the stakes tremendously.

Aetna insurance exec: Obamacare in death spiral

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -customers

sardis wrote:Aetna insurance exec: Obamacare in death spiral

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -customers

The Aetna exec is right. It is a death spiral. Our sick, just stay sick and they just... don't.... die.

Our health care system is exceptional. We are really great at keeping people alive, keeping people alive to use ever more expensive health care. George Will has an amazing speech about the reason from the massive, ever rising cost, of health care. He said it all stems from the concept of competent medicine, something we have only had in this country since the beginning of World War II.

[youtube]iGsSrH6v7ro[/youtube]

Amazing that POTUS Calvin Coolidge had to bury is own son because he got a blister on his foot after playing tennis. Amazing that in 1900, the single largest expense item at hospitals was the cleaning and pressing of linen. THAT is what we would call, incompetent medicine. Doctors couldn't actually.... do anything.

sardis wrote:Aetna insurance exec: Obamacare in death spiral

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -customers

"Matthew Fiedler, a fellow with the Center for Health Policy at the Brookings Institution, says the small decline in Obamacare enrollment in 2017 compared to 2016 was probably not driven by climbing premiums. Most individuals get subsidies, helping cushion the effect of rising costs."

that drives me insane.

health costs are going up! yea but who cares? everyone we care about gets subsidizes - as if health care costs going up are only for the ACA marketplace subscribers.

eCat wrote:

sardis wrote:Aetna insurance exec: Obamacare in death spiral

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -customers

"Matthew Fiedler, a fellow with the Center for Health Policy at the Brookings Institution, says the small decline in Obamacare enrollment in 2017 compared to 2016 was probably not driven by climbing premiums. Most individuals get subsidies, helping cushion the effect of rising costs."

that drives me insane.

health costs are going up! yea but who cares? everyone we care about gets subsidizes - as if health care costs going up are only for the ACA marketplace subscribers.

That is what Congressman Trey Gowdy was saying in a hearing with officials who administered ACA. The majority of the people who are actually applying for it aren't actually paying very much of anything. But that is not something that the government wants the average taxpayer to know about...

Trump signed an executive order on his first day that killed obamacare. Or at least that's what he told packed arenas all over TX, AL, MS, FL etc. back in the fall what he'd do - maybe he was off a few days. So whatever the Aetna CEO says is moot, and besides his company is in only 4 states anyway. Slacker.

and why are prices going up?

well because we created a law with no teeth that mandates health care coverage for the sickest while the healthiest can skirt by

so who covers the cost? The people that had health care before ACA

The ACA may be the most poorly executed and most negatively impactful piece of legislation ever created for the working class.

You know the ones that threw the democrats out of office this election.

"What if the spook community is revolting because they don't want normalized relations with Russia? The Military Industrial complex, along with the spook community's livelihood could very well be based on the idea that we have a known quantity as a superpower threat."

I watched Homeland last night, I'll handle this. Might be getting ready to find out who really runs shit...