Follow The Money

There are plenty of reasons to be nervous about the upcoming election. Unemployment would be up near the top of that list, but you wouldn't guess that those people who have jobs would make it number one. Unless you worked for the Koch brothers: "many of our more than 50,000 U.S. employees and contractors may suffer the consequences" of voting for President Obama and other Democrats in the 2012 elections. This was the message the boys from Wichita sent out to their workers at the beginning of October. Helpfully, they included a list of conservative candidates the company's political action committee endorses and a pair of editorials: one, by David Koch, supporting Mitt Romney, and the other, by Charles Koch, condemning Obama. They're not telling you for whom your vote should be cast, but we are suggesting that there is one right answer.
"Right." Get it?
A lot of bosses would encourage their employees to get out there and vote, and many would probably even offer up their opinions about which candidates and ballot measures would be best for the continued health of their company. I'm guessing that employees of the Public Broadcasting Corporation has probably sent a similar message out, reminding the biggest and featheriest of them, that their continued employment may hinge on the results of the upcoming election. Doesn't everything? But actual threats?

How about this one from David Siegel, the founder and CEO of Florida-based Westgate Resorts: "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." The name of that hurricane would be Barack, and if you don't know Mister Siegel, he and his family are the subject of an interesting documentary called "The Queen of Versailles." The Koch brothers can be seen in most film adaptations of "Alice In Wonderland."

I can't threaten your jobs, but I can threaten you with the continued care and feeding of plutocrats. And I don't mean Mickey Mouse's dog.