April 4, 2014, - 9:00 am
Barack Obama’s $17 Reuben: Man of the People’s Sandwich b/f Minimum Wage Speech
I guess I’m the only one who noticed that Barack Obama paid nearly $17 for a Reuben sandwich, right before he gave his “I’m a man of the people/down wit da struggle” pro-minimum wage hike speech. Yes, that’s right. Obama ate a $16.50 Reuben at one of America’s most expensive delis, just right before he talked about how difficult it is to live on the current minimum wage (as if he has any idea). The irony is thicker than the sandwich’s corned beef paired with Swiss cheese.
The local media showed Obama eating at Zingerman’s Deli in Ann Arbor, but didn’t think, apparently, that it was appropriate to note that the Reuben he ate there costs $16.50 (or–big bargain alert!–$13.99 for a half). I mean, why get in the way of his phony populist, common man BS routine? For the record, since I keep kosher, I’ve never had a Reuben (the kosher diet prohibits eating dairy and meat together–and Zingerman’s is NOT a kosher restaurant; its owner and founder, Ari Weinzweig, is a pork-, bacon-, and lard-loving Jew). But, for comparison with the real world, I note that Arby’s Reuben costs $4.99.
Obama even had the chutzpah to refer to Zingerman’s in his speech, though it’s a place where the average person–even those who make far more than minimum wage–can’t afford to eat, especially now that they have to pay high ObamaCare premiums and their hours were cut to part time because of Obamacare. Yes, Arby’s Reuben didn’t make Food & Wine’s list of “The Best Sandwiches in America,” and Zingerman’s did. But Zingerman’s isn’t the place where the common man can afford to eat, especially in the Obamaconomy.
In his minimum wage hike speech, Obama mentioned Zingerman’s and humorlessly said that if Republicans had a sandwich it would be the “stinkburger’ or the “meanwich.” Hahaha. You’re so funny, Barack. The thing is, if the minimum wage is hiked, all restaurants will have to up their sandwich prices, and you, too, could be stuck paying 17 bucks for a Reuben. that’s how high prices will go if a higher minimum wage is enacted. Companies gotta make up for the loss somehow, and it’s charged to you, the unwilling consumer of $17 sandwiches.
It’s an exorbitant price, and so are all the prices at Zingerman’s, which makes it extra-hypocritical that Obama ate there before the minimum wage, down with the working man charade of a speech. It’s the gourmet of the gourmet–foodie heaven for spoiled rich people so bored with the good life that they must constantly eat new, ever-more-exotic things to challenge their taste buds and make life worth living. Check out the favorite items recommended by Zingerman’s staff. Owner Ari Weinzweig recommends you buy his $40 12 Year Aged Fynbos Merlot and Cabernet Bush Vinegar. Ten bucks extra for shipping for a total of FIFTY BUCKS for a small bottle of vinegar. Wow, $50 to eat like someone in the Bush. Cha-ching! Or you could spend $27 to buy another employee, Mo’s (short for Mohammed?), favorite: fire parched brown rice. Yup, 27 bucks for just one pound of burnt rice (I think that’s what “fire parched” means).
Again, this is where Barack Obama ate just before he told a bunch of spoiled University of Michigan brats that hard-working small business owners must spend more on menial, entry-level labor and struggle more to survive.
All while he’s eating a 17 buck Reuben.
Community organizer? Puh-leeze. More like Hifalutin Fraud in Chief.
Good Morning Debbie,
You are spot on with this story. I’m a Michigander, born and raised. I have worked in the Ann Arbor area for the last dozen + years and had not tried Zingerman’s until this past winter. My wife and step daughter had lunch there, and to say the least unimpressed. Zingerman’s is overrated, expensive to my bottom line and is all show…Just like Obama, how fitting.
Take Care, Bill
Bill Underwood on April 4, 2014 at 9:22 am