A new White House petition wants President Obama to nationalize the “Twinkie industry,” saving the popular junk food from possible extinction.
“We the undersigned, hereby request Barack Obama to immediately Nationalize the Twinkie industry and prevent our nation from losing her sweet creamy center,” a petition on the White House “We the People” website requests.
Hostess Brands Inc. — maker of the Twinkie, the Ding Dong and Wonder Bread — is preparing to shutter operations amid a labor strike and rising costs. Unionized workers rejected a major pay and benefit cut, sparking the latest strike.
On a more serious note, the demise of Hostess is being blamed on Bain-style vulture capitalism. “What’s happening with Hostess Brands is a microcosm of what’s wrong with America, as Bain-style Wall Street vultures make themselves rich by making America poor. Crony capitalism and consistently poor management drove Hostess into the ground, but its workers are paying the price,” said AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka.
The charge is not made out of the blue. ThinkProgress reports that “While the company was filing for bankruptcy, for the second time, earlier this year, it actually tripled its CEO’s pay, and increased other executives’ compensation by as much as 80 percent.” So an iconic American brand goes under while top execs walk away richer than ever.
