Starbucks CEO to DC: No Donations for You!

Maybe he should just refuse coffee to politicians. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is pleading to other corporate execs to stop contributing to political campaigns until the president and Congress come up with a realistic way to cut budget deficits, reports Politico. “This is a time for citizenship, not partisanship," he wrote. “We just believe that in this moment of great uncertainty, the government needs discipline, the people need jobs—and leaders need to lead.”

Schultz first distributed a memo to company employees last week, lashing out against "the lack of cooperation and irresponsibility among elected officials as they have put partisan agendas before the people’s agenda.” Positive response encouraged him to take his call to action to other CEOs. “The fundamental problem is that the lens through which Congress approaches issues is reelection. The lifeblood of their reelection campaigns is political contributions,” Schultz said in a New York Times interview. "Whether big donors or small ones, Americans should stop giving and see if it galvanizes Washington to act." (More Starbucks stories.)