Brad Wardell's views about technology, politics, religion, world affairs, and all sorts of politically incorrect topics.
Published on October 10, 2012 By Draginol In Business

This week, the hard hitting reporters from Gawker bring you:

“The CEO Who Built Himself America’s Largest House Just Threatened to Fire His Employees if Obama’s Elected” [actual headline]

http://gawker.com/5950189/the-ceo-who-built-himself-americas-largest-house-just-threatened-to-fire-his-employees-if-obamas-elected

This bad BAD man also has a LARGE house. What a monster.

[editor’s note: Sure, we could have simply stated that this man sent an email to his employees explaining that if the company’s taxes go up that it will reduce working capital which could result in job cuts but we’re all about the page views]

UPDATE:

Now that everyone has finished writing their hate male to this guy we have the actual email. Unfortunately, it’s long and nuanced so we have taken the liberty of highlighting the parts that should make you very VERY mad.

“Huge mansion. Huge fortune. Profitable company. What could David Siegal have to complain about? Well, the demonization of the 1% by Barack Obama, for one thing. This truly amazing email went out to all Westgate employees yesterday. Bolding is ours.”

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

COMING UP NEXT on “THE BAD BAD CEO”

The BAD BAD CEO who went on a VACATION to a FOREIGN COUNTRY while raising insurance premiums on his employees.

Remember readers: Rich, Successful people are BAD people and we will continue to dig deep to show you just how terrible they are. How dare people start their own businesses and believe they have any rights to express their opinions.  We will continue our hard-hitting reporting that we expect will damage those businesses through ill-informed boycotts by making sensational, irrelevant headlines.


Comments (Page 1)
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on Oct 10, 2012

Sad, funny, and satirical.

on Oct 10, 2012

BTW, check your PM.

on Oct 10, 2012

This would be a great podcast, btw.

on Oct 10, 2012

Island Dog
This would be a great podcast, btw.

I'm still getting blow back from Kotaku's "sexual harassment" article (translated: EVIL EVIL CEO wrote a MEAN email to a FEMALE employee).  I see some of these people tweet things 10X worse than anything I'm alleged to have said (or done).

on Oct 10, 2012

“The CEO Who Built Himself America’s Largest House Just Threatened to Fire His Employees if Obama’s Elected” [actual headline]

Interesting title lets read the actual letter...

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.

Seems to me the one who is threatening them is obama and the CEO is just pointing it out.

The pukes who wrote the title... those little turds are trying to perpetuate the class warfare bullshit with their false misleading titles.

Also, Interesting he never mentioned that this economic devastation reduced him from a billionaire to a multi millionaire.

on Oct 10, 2012

Why would the president matter in any of this? Both sides are claiming to reduce taxes for the lowest incomes and keep taxes the same for larger companies. Are you saying I shouldn't believe them? I should be surprised when in a year the dimension where Obama is elected taxes go up for everyone? Are you saying I should be flabbergasted when the dimension where Romney wins ends up decreasing taxes for everyone and inflating the deficit? I choose to believe the safe and happy propaganda. 

How's that for satire?

on Oct 10, 2012

seanw3
Why would the president matter in any of this?

Veto power. Also obama personally nationalized companies and overruled laws of congress (which he has no power to do) which were defended by congress and the courts 

Both sides are claiming to reduce taxes for the lowest incomes and keep taxes the same for larger companies. Are you saying I shouldn't believe them?

No, the dems say we should raise taxes (on "the rich") and the reps say we should lower taxes on everyone.

I should be surprised when in a year the dimension where Obama is elected taxes go up for everyone?

No, obama raising taxes shouldn't surprise anyone. In fact he already has it happening via sunsetting. The bush tax cuts were extended till just after the election. Obama if reelected could LEGALLY (unlike his other acts) veto any bill to make them permanent thus getting a tax increase.

on Oct 10, 2012

You missed the subtext of my satire friend. It happens to partisan people. Right now both presidential candidates are claiming to do the exact same thing, everything. They always promise us everything and then do whatever their paying constituents want when they are elected. Fortunately, Americans have the memory of a smart goldfish. I have take to writing their promises down. It makes for a fun drinking game every election.

 

BTW, Romney, today, is claiming to lower income tax on everyone and then close tax loopholes to make higher incomes pay enough so that the budget balances at zero. Don't tell anyone that this is impossible. He wants it to be a surprise at the end of the next fiscal year!

on Oct 10, 2012

The sad thing is there is not one politician, not even one political figure in this country, male or female, that is even worth the sperm that created them.

on Oct 10, 2012

seanw3
You missed the subtext of my satire friend. It happens to partisan people.

No, it happens to people speaking to you online via TEXT who have no idea what your tone of voice is. Everything you said as "satire" has been said by some moron in full seriousness.

And I am not "partisan" and would thank you to not throw such insults at me.

Right now both presidential candidates are claiming to do the exact same thing, everything.

No they aren't. Although they are both "playing the middle" there are still keen differences in what they are saying.

BTW, Romney, today, is claiming to lower income tax on everyone and then close tax loopholes to make higher incomes pay enough so that the budget balances at zero. Don't tell anyone that this is impossible. He wants it to be a surprise at the end of the next fiscal year!

I would like some evidence of that.

Although it wouldn't suprise me that that big lib romney would do that.

Romney is left of center rino... Obama is super-uber-extraleft extremist. Only good thing about Romney is that he isn't obama... Only rep candidate that was WORSE then romney was ron paul (he was the strongest candidate on internal affairs and the economy but unacceptable stances of demilitarization and appeasement)

The sad thing is there is not one politician, not even one political figure in this country, male or female, that is even worth the sperm that created them.

There are a few actually. The sad thing is that they are so rare that they can't make a difference.

Your average politician is at the bottom 1% of our country in terms of intelligence, morals, and skills.

on Oct 10, 2012

taltamir
There are a few actually. The sad thing is that they are so rare that they can't make a difference.

And they don't always end up staying that way. The other bottom-feeders seem to drag them down also.

on Oct 10, 2012

It's really too bad that republicans have aligned themselves with religious types, because I can never vote for them as long as they are.  All other messages are meaningless to me, and I imagine the opposite is true for many Christians, they will accept whatever it tacked on to the republican ticket as long as it stands for what they believe are strong Christian values.  Either way, I can't vote Republican.

on Oct 10, 2012

taltamir
No, it happens to people speaking to you online via TEXT who have no idea what your tone of voice is. 

At the end I defined my voice by saying, "How's that for satire?" I was trying to keep things light, but this is admittedly impossible on the internets.


My point is that both candidates are not to be trusted, liked, or believed in, unless you have taken an oath to do so. By their nature, they are politicians. They will say anything they feel is necessary to be elected. That's the game. 

on Oct 10, 2012

Lord Xia
It's really too bad that republicans have aligned themselves with religious types, because I can never vote for them as long as they are.  All other messages are meaningless to me, and I imagine the opposite is true for many Christians, they will accept whatever it tacked on to the republican ticket as long as it stands for what they believe are strong Christian values.  Either way, I can't vote Republican.

A massive amount of christians, catholics in particular voted for obama.

A whole bunch of priests preached that universal health insurance (NOT CARE, INSURANCE!) is a right and the rich should be forced to "pay their fair share"... Charity is a requirement of their religion and by voting for obama they got to ENFORCE their religious beliefs on others. (government enforced "charity")... or at least that is what they BELIEVED would happen.

What I don't understand is why the fact that there are religious people on the right would make you refuse to work with them. There are a ton of religious people on the left too, and I don't just mean the utopian statists, I mean christians. And so what if the right is "religious"... their arguments are sound and their views are right on most issues. Particularly on the focus issues where we must turn things around ASAP.

That being:

1. Small weak government for the protection of the people from the government (else we WILL end up as a dictatorship or a theocracy eventually).

2. The economy.

3. National defense.

Those so called social freedoms the dems falsely claim to champion? They cannot survive an all powerful unchecked government, a crumbled economy, and inability to defend against foreign aggression.

seanw3
At the end I defined my voice by saying, "How's that for satire?"

I thought you were referring to the last statements rather than the post as a whole

on Oct 10, 2012

Republicans are anti LGBT rights and they champion teaching creationism among other things, I will never vote for a party like that, ever.  I live in Kansas, I know damn well what these Republicans are like, and no matter what other ideas they have, as long as they are filled with these types, I will never vote for them.  

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