Those in power would have you believe that a vote for Mitt Romney is a vote for your own best interests.  Just think about that for a second.  You have very wealthy businessmen finally reaching an “oh sh-t” moment; they realize that they will personally see increases in their taxes if President Obama is re-elected.  Having seen a decline in real wages for a decade … NONE of these wealthy individuals complained about worker’s rights or the interest of their workers whom they discard like a disposable tampon on a moment’s whim, but now the swear on their hearts, pray to die that a vote for President Obama is a vote that will only hurt the middle class.  We should all feel so lucky that they care so very much.

You may not be surprised that I’ve already written my response to that in “the people you are after are the people you depend on , we cook your meals…”.  If that isn’t subtle enough – my response might sound something like “Thanks for the advice.  Now go f#ck yourself.”  :)

In June of this year – Romney made some comments that seemed to fly below the radar.  As he was speaking to a group of business owners, he urged them to “make it clear to your employees” the significance of their vote and “therefore their job and their future”.  We’ve shared that HERE:

He said:

“I hope you make it very clear to your employees what you believe is in the best interest of your enterprise and therefore their joband their future in the upcoming elections.  And whether you agree with me or you agree with President Obama, or whatever your political view, I hope you pass those along to your employees.”

“Nothing illegal about you talking to your employees about what you believe is best for the business, because I believe that will figure in to their election decision, their voting decision.”

Don’t believe me?  Listen to him yourself:

Well … that’s exactly what’s happening.  David Siegel – the CEO and founder of Westgate resorts – a multinational corporation that specializes in timeshares and developing resorts sent a letter to all of his employees telling them it would be in their personal interest to vote for Mitt Romney.  This coming from the man who acknowledges he had all of 8,000 of his mostly Florida based employees take a survey in 2000 where the employees who liked Bush were made to register to vote and the ones who liked Gore were not.

Gawker has the letter he sent to his employees HERE; the parts in bold came from Gawker.  Notice some of the language that he uses like “penalizing the productive” and “gives to the unproductive”.  He means his employees.  He makes it explicitly clear that their jobs are in danger.  EXPLICITLY.

Subject: Message from David Siegel
Date:Mon, 08 Oct 2012 13:58:05 -0400 (EDT)
From: [David Siegel]
To: [All employees]

To All My Valued Employees,

As most of you know our company, Westgate Resorts, has continued to succeed in spite of a very dismal economy. There is no question that the economy has changed for the worse and we have not seen any improvement over the past four years. In spite of all of the challenges we have faced, the good news is this: The economy doesn’t currently pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job however, is another 4 years of the same Presidential administration. Of course, as your employer, I can’t tell you whom to vote for, and I certainly wouldn’t interfere with your right to vote for whomever you choose. In fact, I encourage you to vote for whomever you think will serve your interests the best.

However, let me share a few facts that might help you decide what is in your best interest.The current administration and members of the press have perpetuated an environment that casts employers against employees. They want you to believe that we live in a class system where the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. They label us the “1%” and imply that we are somehow immune to the challenges that face our country. This could not be further from the truth. Sure, you may have heard about the big home that I’m building. I’m sure many people think that I live a privileged life. However, what you don’t see or hear is the true story behind any success that I have achieved.

I started this company over 42 years ago. At that time, I lived in a very modest home. I converted my garage into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you. We didn’t eat in fancy restaurants or take expensive vacations because every dollar I made went back into this company. I drove an old used car, and often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married to my business — hard work, discipline, and sacrifice. Meanwhile, many of my friends got regular jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a nice income, and they spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes. My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my life into this business —-with a vision that eventually, some day, I too, will be able to afford to buy whatever I wanted. Even to this day, every dime I earn goes back into this company. Over the past four years I have had to stop building my dream house, cut back on all of my expenses, and take my kids out of private schools simply to keep this company strong and to keep you employed.

Just think about this – most of you arrive at work in the morning and leave that afternoon and the rest of your time is yours to do as you please. But not me- there is no “off” button for me. When you leave the office, you are done and you have a weekend all to yourself. I unfortunately do not have that freedom. I eat, live, and breathe this company every minute of the day, every day of the week. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. I know many of you work hard and do a great job, but I’m the one who has to sign every check, pay every expense, and make sure that this company continues to succeed. Unfortunately, what most people see is the nice house and the lavish lifestyle. What the press certainly does not want you to see, is the true story of the hard work and sacrifices I’ve made.

Now, the economy is falling apart and people like me who made all the right decisions and invested in themselves are being forced to bail out all the people who didn’t. The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed 42 years of my life for. Yes, business ownership has its benefits, but the price I’ve paid is steep and not without wounds. Unfortunately, the costs of running a business have gotten out of control, and let me tell you why: We are being taxed to death and the government thinks we don’t pay enough. We pay state taxes, federal taxes, property taxes, sales and use taxes, payroll taxes, workers compensation taxes and unemployment taxes. I even have to hire an entire department to manage all these taxes. The question I have is this: Who is really stimulating the economy? Is it the Government that wants to take money from those who have earned it and give it to those who have not, or is it people like me who built a company out of his garage and directly employs over 7000 people and hosts over 3 million people per year with a great vacation?

Obviously, our present government believes that taking my money is the right economic stimulus for this country. The fact is, if I deducted 50% of your paycheck you’d quit and you wouldn’t work here. I mean, why should you? Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, that’s what happens to me.

Here is what most people don’t understand and the press and our Government has chosen to ignore – to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Instead of raising my taxes and depositing that money into the Washington black-hole, let me spend it on growing the company, hire more employees, and generate substantial economic growth. My employees will enjoy the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But that is not what our current Government wants you to believe. They want you to believe that it somehow makes sense to take more from those who create wealth and give it to those who do not, and somehow our economy will improve. They don’t want you to know that the “1%”, as they like to label us, pay more than 31% of all the taxes in this country. Thomas Jefferson, the author of our great Constitution, once said, “democracy” will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”

Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate business, not kill it. However, the power brokers in Washington believe redistributing wealth is the essential driver of the American economic engine. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change they want.

So where am I going with all this? It’s quite simple. If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, as our current President plans, I will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company. Rather than grow this company I will be forced to cut back. This means fewer jobs, less benefits and certainly less opportunity for everyone.

So, when you make your decision to vote, ask yourself, which candidate understands the economics of business ownership and who doesn’t? Whose policies will endanger your job? Answer those questions and you should know who might be the one capable of protecting and saving your job. While the media wants to tell you to believe the “1 percenters” are bad, I’m telling you they are not. They create most of the jobs. If you lose your job, it won’t be at the hands of the “1%”; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country.

You see, I can no longer support a system that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, so will your opportunities. If that happens, you can find me in the Caribbean sitting on the beach, under a palm tree, retired, and with no employees to worry about.

Signed, your boss,

David Siegel

A few days ago – Richard Lacks – the CEO of Lacks Enterprises – a car parts manufacturer told his 2,300 employees to vote for Mitt Romney.  Huffington Post has the story HERE:

“It is important that in November you vote to improve your standard of living and that will be through smaller government and less government,” Lacks wrote as part of a letter that also announced a bonus for the company’s 2,300 employees, according to the report. A number of progressive economists warn, however, that suddenly slashing government spending could plunge the economy into another recession.

More specifically, Lacks warned that Obamacare may raise the company’s health insurance costs, which he said he would pass on to employees, according to theMLive.com. Nearly two-thirds of employers expect higher health benefit costs as a result of Obamacare, according to a recent survey, and Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter has said he plans to raise the price of Papa John’s pizza to compensate.

Then you have the CEO Robert Murray of Murray Energy – a coal mining company … he cajoled, influenced and expected salaried employees to donate to Mitt Romney.  The New Republic wrote about that on October 4th, 2012 HERE:

Internal Murray documents show just how upset Murray becomes when employees fail to join the giving. In missives, he cajoles employees to attend fund-raisers and scolds them when they or their subordinates do not. In cases of low participation, reminders from his lieutenants have included tables or spreadsheets showing how each of the eleven Murray subsidiaries was performing. And at least one note came with a list of names of employees who had not yet given. “What is so difficult about asking a well-paid, salaried employee to give us three hours of his/her time every two months?” Murray writes in a March 2012 letter. “We have been insulted by every salaried employee who does not support our efforts.” He concludes: “I do not recall ever seeing the attached list of employees . . . at one of our fund-raisers.”

In the 2010 election – the Koch Brothers sent an election guide to all 50,000 employees educating them as to whom they should vote for.  The Nation picked up a copy of that brochure HERE:

The Nation obtained the Koch Industries election packet for Washington State—which included a cover letter from its president and COO, David Robertson; a list of Koch-endorsed state and federal candidates; and an issue of the company newsletter, Discovery, full of alarmist right-wing propaganda.

Legal experts interviewed for this story called the blatant corporate politicking highly unusual, although no longer skirting the edge of legality, thanks to last year’s Citizens United Supreme Court decision, which granted free speech rights to corporations.

In 2008 – Wal-Mart gathered thousands of employees together in 7 key states to tell them that a vote for Democrats would be bad for them personally.  Wall Street Journal has the story HERE:

The Wal-Mart human-resources managers who run the meetings don’t specifically tell attendees how to vote in November’s election, but make it clear that voting for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama would be tantamount to inviting unions in, according to Wal-Mart employees who attended gatherings in Maryland, Missouri and other states.

“The meeting leader said, ‘I am not telling you how to vote, but if the Democrats win, this bill will pass and you won’t have a vote on whether you want a union,’” said a Wal-Mart customer-service supervisor from Missouri. “I am not a stupid person. They were telling me how to vote,” she said.

“If anyone representing Wal-Mart gave the impression we were telling associates how to vote, they were wrong and acting without approval,” said David Tovar, Wal-Mart spokesman. Mr. Tovar acknowledged that the meetings were taking place for store managers and supervisors nationwide.

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