Many of you think that I am a communist with socialist sympathies. Or a socialist with communist proclivities. Or that I want to take from the rich and give to the poor. That I have fantasies of becoming the next Mother Theresa or at least Madonna. The singer, not the, you know, Madonna.
Nope. Not me at all.
That gum would be in my earrings
But it’s not at all true. I’m not a socialist, I’m a liberal. Someday the GOP will understand the difference between a liberal and a socialist. But certainly not before it’s convenient. And definitely not before November.
Personally, I work hard and am pretty well paid for my efforts. I like that.
I also like the fact that my husband works less hard and is paid even better. Of course that would piss me off royally if I didn’t get to spend more than my share of that haul.
That said, well, I know I’ve been lucky, especially when it comes to the folks I’ve worked for. Yes, I’ve been incredibly lucky in bosses. None of them has asked me to do anything illegal, unethical or even too terribly yucky. Stupid sometimes, annoying at others, but legal and honest and ethical. And none have ever threatened me.
So when I read this article about a very different type of boss, well I saw red.
Not exactly like this,
but it was definitely red.
Did you hear about David Siegel, the owner of Westgate Resorts? His estimated net worth is close to $2 Billion. Yeah. That’s with a “B.”
You may recall him from the stories about his house, Versailles:
A quaint little cottage, ain’t it?
A mere 90,000 sq. ft.
Here’s the ballroom.
Doesn’t YOUR house have a ballroom?
David made his money selling Time Shares. You know, those “must have” vacation resort scams? My parents owned one. Thanks, David. Can you say “total rip off”? I bet you say it a lot.
Now David’s worried. And that’s never a good thing when all that money is at stake. You see, David is worried that President Obama may get re-elected. And David’s worried that if President Obama is re-elected, he might have to pay more taxes. So he threatened his 7,000 employees, telling them that they may just not have a job if Obama gets 4 more years.
Actually, David held back. He didn’t cross that line. No sirreee Bob. He didn’t tell the folks dependent on him who to vote for! That would be bullying! That would be unethical! That would be illegal!
Here’s what he did say. I’ll use his words, not mine. Here’s what David A. Siegel, Billionnaire, said in an email sent to all of his employees on Monday:
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.
Good start, don’t you think. Then he explained to his workers just how hard the life of a billionaire can be:
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 admit I’d be ticked off if there was no happy hour. Imagine.
And then David mentioned that his employees might just want to think carefully about who they vote for come November:
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. [Emphasis mine.]
David on his Golden Throne
Talk about folks who feel “Entitled”!
So, in spite of the fact that the Presidency offers no such powers, I’m going to lobby hard for something. Nationalization of David Siegel’s assets.
Yup, I’m going to work towards nationalization of the assets of this asshole. Just the one asshole. We could use a new National Park in Central Florida, wouldn’t you say? Disney gets so crowded these days. We can call it “OverTheTop-Land.”
Of course, if I hear of more of those buckaroo billionaires screwing with people’s right to vote, well, I might just rethink just how keen I am on nationalization. Because you know what they say about socialists/communists. Once they start marching, all the dominoes fall.
Elections matter. And nobody has the right to tell their employees how or for whom to vote.
[And if anybody seriously thinks that I am either a socialist or a communist, or that I think there is any authority for anyone to nationalize the assets of anybody in the country, you are reading the wrong blog.]
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A special thank you to my friend, frequent commenter and budding author, Clinton, for telling me about this article: CEO to Workers: I May Fire You if Obama Wins
All the pictures are from Google Images. Thanks, Google. What was life like before you?
FiftyFourandAHalf 