BLOG: Vote for Romney or Get Fired, Koch Industries Message to 50,000 Employees

This morning I came across an article on yahoo news.  It discussed a company, namely “Koch Industries”.  This company is worth over a billion dollars and is owned by the Koch brothers.  This article talked about how the CEO’s of the company issued a letter and political packet to 50,000 of their employees listing the reasons why they should not vote for Obama and further stating that should they do so, their jobs will be in jeopardy.  Their whole argument is that if Obama gets re-elected as president, he will raise taxes on companies like theirs, in turn they will be forced to cut down the size of their company and have no real incentive to grow the company.  Oh, I forgot to mention one small detail; they also stated that individuals have the right to vote for whomever they choose to.

First, though technically it is an individual’s right and choice alone to vote for whom they want to vote for, issuing a political packet practically threatening the jobs of 50,000 employees that have the likelihood of voting for Obama is no accident.  This is definitely a ploy to sway votes, practically by coercion.

Next, should none of these 50,000 employees vote for Obama, and by some chance he still gets re-elected, their jobs are still in jeopardy.  So the whole premise of sending out the political packet in the first place becomes flawed.  These people could vote for Romney and still lose their jobs.

Selfishness and greed are sins that are envied by some and shared by too many.  The problem with the Koch brothers and many other companies that share these same views is that the problem isn’t in the tax appropriation to the companies, the issue comes in where they would have to make more money to maintain the same sort of lifestyle they are currently accustomed to.  They would rather fire 50,000 people than to put less money in their off-shore accounts, or buy 20 less vehicles, or buy 50 less diamonds, this is all conjecture, but you get the point.

They have more than enough to distribute, but rather than give up a little so that those who have less than themselves can stand to gain a bit more…they threaten their jobs at the stake of an election.  Using your power as an employer and PAC to control your employees is despicable.  Not only do I consider it unethical for them to take such action, but morally reprehensible.

After doing some further research I found that part of the reason this company may not be too pleased with Obama being re-elected is because Obama is giving tax incentives to companies that are investing in green energy.  Koch Industries has a "notorious" reptutation for environmental violations and penalties, some so negligent that it caused death.  They've spent hundreds of millions paying for penalties concerning their violations alone.  Maybe they can clean up their act and use that money to pay their employees or even invest in green energy.  I know it's a stretch for them,  they say you cant teach an old dog new tricks....I digress.

I cannot say that I am surprised, unfortunately, but I will say that we will all account for our actions and decisions at one point or another.  Some call it karma, so some say you reap what you sew (it’s all the same).  In one way or another,  the Koch brothers and companies like them will have to be held accountable for their greed and over-willingness to strong-arm their employees.  Im not sure what that will entail, but it will come…

This is precisely the reason why there needs to be more entrepreneurs, small business owners, and etc.  American citizens have given too much power to these top 1% companies.  Understood, it's a bad economy and we need jobs, but the fact that 2 individuals have so much power to control the livehood of 50,000+ citizens can be dangerous.  We should work harder to support ourselves through the development and formulation of self-employment opportunities and support small businesses.  Given, not all individuals in the top 1% are greedy; however, those like the Koch brothers are surely giving them a bad name.

You may read the article on Koch Industries here.

For motivation on taking that big step and developing your own unique business as well as tapping into your creative side, take a look and join the conversations at www.skillology.com.  Their blog and website are FULL of information to motivate all individuals to tap into their inner ambitious selves and offer to the world something only YOU can.