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 12)
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on Nov 26, 2012

The roman empire collapsed because

1) they didn't pay their debts to the mercenaries [Huns]

2) Empire became very divided during the reign of Military-based "Barracks Emperors" some centuries earlier

3) Intelligentsia fled to Greece (and Scythia, and Egypt)

4) Capital was moved away from Rome (to Constantinople)

 

I do not think that the US deserves to be compared to the late Roman empire at this time ... not enough similarities imho

on Nov 26, 2012

To revise, while in a period of decline (which, imho, had its origins with arrogant and greedy economic policies starting with Reagan)

I do not think we are on our way to a Fall.

on Nov 26, 2012

If anything, we may just have to withdraw from Foreign bases, and consolidate our reign of influence.

I think if we took half of our Budget on Defense, and focused that money on well thought out reforms of internal domestic-based laws, we could increase the overall efficiency of our spending in the Medical and Education fields.

It might be too much to hope that schools and hospitals can start acting like service centers and stop acting like businesses, but at least we could be less obtuse about certain things.

 

If that works, then we would have more money freed up for possible social programs, ecological programs, LIBRARIES, and other vital things we have been cutting back on.

(and if need be, we can then later put money back into the Defense budget, but I don't think that will be necessary. Half of our defense budget, assuming our military became a lot less 'top-heavy' would be more than enough to keep us in the range of top 5 Earth-based militaries)

on Nov 26, 2012

Alstein
Idle citizenry would find meaning outside of employment, if they didn't need employment to survive.    You'd see more folks try to start their own business if there's a lack of options for employment.  (this has happened)

Maybe some folks would go destructive- this is an experiment that hasn't happened outside of the Roman Empire.

I think we're both fearing the same thing here, but attributing the cause to different reasons- it's possible we might both be right.  There's evidence to suggest I may be wrong in recent property crime statistics, though I suspect it's for a different reason (our massive incarceration rate)

 

France has a vast welfare system and its idle population of unskilled people are a significant issue.

People do want to have meaning in their life. I, however, do not want to work in order to pay for other people to find themselves. 

on Nov 27, 2012

Frogboy

I, however, do not want to work in order to pay for other people to find themselves. 

Neither do I want to work in order to pay for other people to rot in prisons.

We have the highest percentage of prisoners among reporting nations (and probably the highest among non reporting as well).

Sure, we generally tend to treat our prisoners better than other nations, but privatization of prison systems is a part of the problem. SOME facilities simply SHOULDN'T be run like a business. Prisons are one of them (and in my opinion hospitals and schools/universities fall into this category as well).

(The other reason for our Gulag state is of course the Race/Drug war ie discrimination based on simple drug possession based on race, combined with mandatory minimum sentencing, et al )

on Nov 27, 2012

Tasunke
Neither do I want to work in order to pay for other people to rot in prisons.

2 words.....

Soylent Green...

on Nov 27, 2012


2 words.....

Soylent Green...

 

Bleh whatever

 

I personally think that only people convicted of VIOLENT crimes should spend prison time. Well, perhaps Violent crime and White collar crime (violence against our livelihoods), but nothing else.

on Nov 27, 2012

I've often said severe white collar crime, should, like in China, result in the death penalty (life with parole is too inhumane)

We do have way too many folks where the cost of incarceration is greater than the cost letting them run out in society would be.

 

A decaying safety net increases the incentives for crime, and instead of increasing the safety net, we have increased the prison population instead to "solve" the problem, by shoving it somewhere the sun don't shine.

 

on Nov 27, 2012

did u mean to say life "without" parole is too inhumane?

 

or that life 'with' parole is too inhumane for the rest of us?

on Nov 27, 2012

Life without parole is more inhumane than the death penalty.  Dying in prison after 50-60 years , it's less cruel just to shoot or hang the guy.

(I'd replace the chair/injection with shooting and hanging, which is less cruel, but shooting would be reserved for ex-military who served honorably)

 

on Nov 28, 2012

That's a little off topic unless you think it should be illegal for CEOs to fire employees in order to pocket more.

on Nov 28, 2012

I'm not sure you can make it illegal, but it should be something that causes shame on the CEOs, and maybe should be posted publicly.

 

 

on Nov 28, 2012

My jet fuel doesn't pay foR itself.

on Nov 28, 2012

Frogboy
My jet fuel doesn't pay foR itself.

I heard your new jet was fueled by feeding employees into its engines.  Brilliant, really.  Skip the paperwork that comes with firing them.  Instead you save money on both ends.  No salaries and no fuel to purchase to power your jet.

on Nov 29, 2012

Kantok

Quoting Frogboy, reply 178My jet fuel doesn't pay foR itself.

I heard your new jet was fueled by feeding employees into its engines.  Brilliant, really.  Skip the paperwork that comes with firing them.  Instead you save money on both ends.  No salaries and no fuel to purchase to power your jet.

Well, someone already made the Soylent Green joke. Shoot.

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