CEO’s and rich white guys see how this election could be a turning point for them.  If Obama wins – they’ll have to make sure all their employees are covered with health insurance.  They’ll have an increase in their own personal tax rate.  They’ll see the elimination of hidden loopholes written into the tax code to further enrich already wealthy corporations and the wealthiest Americans.  Some of them just have a personal aversion to the idea of a strong social safety net.  They want you to elect the guy who made hundreds of millions by exploiting middle class workers, cutting wages and benefits and shipping jobs overseas.  Think about that.

Whatever the reason … it is entirely inappropriate for a CEO to send a letter to employees warning them that their jobs could be at stake if President Obama wins re-election.  My response to those CEOs is simple: Go f#ck yourself.  See if you can follow this logic.  If someone owns a successful business – then “they built it” without any help from anyone including government, but if that same person owns a struggling business – then it’s the government’s fault.  Makes perfect sense.

Chris Hayes obtained an email that was written by the Arthur Allen – the CEO of ASG Software Solutions based out of Florida.  In this email – he tells his 1,000 employees that the company won’t be able to maintain its independence if President Obama is elected.  Mr. Allen refers to a struggling global economy multiple times and urges the importance of hiring a person with business experience.  He implores for his employees to vote for Mitt Romney and usher in a new administration.  I hold no ill will to a wealthy CEO obviously wanting to see Romney – the man of the 1% – elected, but it’s a very sick and distorted world where middle class workers actually start to believe what’s good for the CEO is good for them.  Remember – corporate profits are at an all time high (source), so it isn’t as if Obama’s presidency has been bad for business … just the opposite.

The infamous Koch Brothers just did this with all 45,000 of its Georgia Pacific employees according to In These Times HERE:

The packet arrived in the mailboxes of all 45,000 Georgia Pacific employees earlier this month. The cover letter, by Koch Industries President and Chief Operating Officer Dave Robertson, read:

While we are typically told before each Presidential election that it is important and historic, I believe the upcoming election will determine what kind of America future generations will inherit.

If we elect candidates who want to spend hundreds of billions in borrowed money on costly new subsidies for a few favored cronies, put unprecedented regulatory burdens on businesses, prevent or delay important new construction projects, and excessively hinder free trade, then many of our more than 50,000 U.S. employees and contractors may suffer the consequences, including higher gasoline prices, runaway inflation, and other ills.

Enclosed with the letter was a flyer listing Koch-endorsed candidates, beginning with Romney. Robertson’s letter explained: “At the request of many employees, we have also provided a list of candidates in your state that have been supported by Koch companies or by KOCHPAC, our employee political action committee.”

The packet also included an anti-Obama editorial by Charles Koch and a pro-Romney editorial by David Koch. The letter went on to say, “We believe any decision about which candidates to support is—as always—yours and yours alone, based on the factors that are most important to you. Second, we do not support candidates based on their political affiliation.”

In the flyer sent to Oregon employees, all 14 Koch-backed state candidates were Republicans.

The Koch Brothers stand to pay a significantly higher sum in taxes if Obama stays in office and significantly lower if Romney wins the Presidency.  These two brothers are worth more than Bill Gates but somehow it’s never enough wealth; somehow – they’re being disenfranchised.

Just a couple of days ago – David Siegel – the founder and CEO of Westgate resorts sent an email to his thousands of employees telling them if Romney isn’t elected they might lose their jobs due to a struggling business.  You can read that HERE.  But as we shared there … Romney has actually told businessmen to make it abundantly clear whom to vote for and to emphasize the importance of “their job and their future”.  This was in June of this year that Romney said this:

“I hope you make it very clear to your employees what you believe is in the best interest of your enterprise and therefore their job and 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.”

Listen to him for yourself…

Here’s the letter from Arthur Allen to his 1,000 employees:

To all ASG employees,

We have been stuck in an extremely sick global economy, but as we should all know by now, the global economy largely depends on the US economy. This sick global economy has been negatively influencing ASG since December 2008. No one could have ever have dreamed that the US economy would still be sick 4 years later, but it is. We have a chance, as individuals, to help turn the sick US economy into a healthy economy, and positively influence the global economy as well. This chance comes on November 6th, when we elect a new President and administration. The US and the world need to elect individuals who have business experience. Neither the world nor the US can stand to elect politicians any longer. In my view, and in the view of most business leaders, if you give politicians 100 questions, they will give you back 100 wrong answers simply because they have no basis for making those decisions. Would you hire a person with no experience to do brain surgery? Of course not, but that’s what the US voters did in 2009. Why does the world keep hiring politicians to run our global economies when they have no experience? It just makes no sense, and yet the world keeps doing it over and over again. Let’s take the lead on November 6th and show the world how it should and can be done.

Many of you have been with ASG for over 5, 10, 15, and even 20 years. As you know, together, we have been able to keep ASG an independent company while still growing our revenues and customers. But I can tell you, if the US re-elects President Obama, our chances of staying independent are slim to none. I am already heavily involved in considering options that make our independence go away, and with that all of our lives would change forever. I believe that a new President and administration would give US citizens and the world the renewed confidence and optimism we all need to get the global economies started again, and give ASG a chance to stay independent. If we fail as a nation to make the right choice on November 6th, and we lose our independence as a company, I don’t want to hear any complaints regarding the fallout that will most likely come. Remember, in the world of business, companies are consolidators or they get consolidated; so far ASG has been a consolidator, completing over 60 acquisitions in our 26 year history. When we buy a company, we eliminate about 60 percent of the salaries of the employees of that company. If we lose our independence and get consolidated, the same thing would happen to ASG’s employees.

I am asking you to give us one more chance to stay independent by voting in a new President and administration on November 6th. Even then, we still might not be able to remain independent, but it will at least give us a chance. If we don’t, that chance goes away.

I apologize for writing such a blunt email, but for those of you who have known me for years and years, you know that this must be serious, and it is. I am going to follow this email with an email to All Sales, offering all of our help to assist them in making Q4 the best quarter in ASG history. Business is hard to find, but it is out there if Sales just goes and gets it.

Mr. Allen

It’s interesting that Mr. Allen doesn’t explain how that “independence” goes away because of President Obama.

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