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“Verity - the quality or state of being true or real; Balderdash – nonsense."
Miriam-Webster Online Dictionary

 

Verities & Balderdash
The Changing Political Landscape
Edited by Bob Robinson 
December 19, 2011 

According to the email that has been floating around the Internet for the past few years, this is a real letter sent by an employer to his employees. Read it, then see below for some links I found. 

This is just another right-wing conservative email that may have some truth in it... or it may not. So why add it to my expanding list of “right wing” commentaries that I’ve chosen to include in a Verities & Balderdash format? This is why... 

While I was in California, I had my own public relations business. One of my clients was an earthworm farmer. He had an idea. It would provide cheap, easy to replenish food - high in protein - for the poor of third world countries. Even here at home with the right promotion. 

It would provide an entrepreneurial opportunity for hundreds of people wishing to build their own businesses. We put our heads together and developed a marketing plan that put Earthworm Farming on the map. He got nationwide exposure for an earthworm recipe contest that culminated in a media event at the Los Angeles Press Club. By then, due to the exposure, he had started helping others get into the business. It was a success. And - just as an aside - he was an extremely lucrative client for me. 

After two years of building a successful marketing enterprise, the Securities & Exchange Commission stepped in and ordered a ‘cease and desist’ until he could prove he was doing nothing wrong. He did. Prove it. Over and over and over. He responded to their every query... at the expense of thousands of dollars in legal and accounting fees. Finally, he said the hell with it and closed his doors.

He didn’t leave the country, but he retired a millionaire to his home in the South before the Federal Government could turn him into a pauper. I moved on to other clients, but there were dozens in his company who found themselves out of work. And dozens more who likely struggled and finally lost their businesses. This was in 1977. 

Is the following letter real? To me, it is. Read it and weep. 

To All My Valued Employees, 

There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this  company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the  economy has changed for the worse and presents many  challenges. However, the good news is this: The economy  doesn’t’ pose a threat to your job. 

What does threaten  your job however, is the changing political landscape in  this country. Of course, as your employer, I am forbidden to  tell you whom to vote for - it is against the law to  discriminate based on political affiliation, race, creed,  religion, etc. 

Please vote for who you think will  serve your interests the best. However, let me tell you some  little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is  in your best interest. First, while it is easy to spew  rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you have to  understand that for every business owner there is a back  story. 

This back story is often neglected and  overshadowed by what you see and hear.  Sure, you see  me park my Mercedes outside.  You saw my big home at  last years Christmas party. I’m sure all these flashy icons  of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life.  However, what you don’t see is the back story. 

I  started this company 12 years ago. At that time, I lived in  a 300 square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire  living space was converted into an office so I could put  forth 100% effort into building a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you. 

My diet consisted of  Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent went back  into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a  defective transmission. I didn’t have time to date. 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, my friends got jobs. They worked 40  hours a week and made a modest $50K a year and spent every  dime they earned. They drove flashy cars and lived in  expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes.   Instead of hitting Nordstrom’s for the latest hot fashion  item, I was trolling through the Goodwill store extracting  any clothing item that didn’t look like it was birthed in  the 70’s. 

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 a business --- with a vision that  eventually, some day, I too, will be able to afford these  luxuries my friends supposedly had. 

So, while you  physically arrive at the office at 9 am, mentally check in  at about noon, and then leave at 5 pm, I don’t. 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 the freedom.  I eat, ****,  and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is  no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every  day this business is attached to me like a 1 day old baby.  

You, of course, only see the fruits of that garden  -- the nice house, the Mercedes, the vacations... You never  realize the back story and the sacrifices I’ve made. Now,  the economy is falling apart and I, the guy that made all  the right decisions and saved his money, have 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 a decade of my life for.   Yes, business ownership has its benefits but the price I’ve  paid is steep and not without wounds. Unfortunately, the  cost of running this business, and employing you, is  starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and  let me tell you why: 

I am being taxed to death and  the government thinks I don’t pay enough. I have state  taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes.  Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment  taxes. Taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage  all these taxes and then guess what?   I have to  pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and  regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now  occupy most of my time. On Oct 15th, I wrote a check to the   US Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes.  You know  what my “stimulus” check was? Zero. Nada. Zilch. 

The  question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me,  the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and  serves over 2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing  business? Or, the single mother sitting at home pregnant  with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare check?  

Obviously, government feels the latter is the  economic stimulus of this country. The fact is, if I  deducted (Read: Stole) 50% of your paycheck you’d quit and  you wouldn’t work here. I mean, why should you? That’s nuts.  Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well,  I agree which is why your job is in jeopardy. Here is what  many of you don’t understand ... to stimulate the economy  you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly  government mandated to me that I didn’t need to pay taxes,  guess what?   Instead of depositing that $288,000  into the Washington black-hole, I would have spent it, hired  more employees, and generated substantial economic growth.  My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut  in the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can  forget it now. 

When you have a comatose man on the  verge of death, you don’t defibrillate and shock his thumb  thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or, do  you defibrillate his heart?   Business is at the  heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you  must stimulate it, not kill it. Suddenly, the power brokers  in Washington believe the mud of America are the essential  drivers of the American economic engine. 

Nothing  could be further from the truth and this is the type of  change you can keep. So where am I going with all this? It’s  quite simple. If any new taxes are levied on me, or my  company, my reaction will be swift and simple. I fire you. I  fire your co-workers.   You can then plead with  the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your  child’s future. Frankly, it isn’t my problem any more. Then,  I will close this company down, move to another country, and  retire. 

You see, I’m done. I’m done with a country  that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive.  My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed,  and with it, will be my citizenship.  

While tax  cuts to 95% of America sounds great on paper, don’t forget  the back story: If there is no job, there is no income to  tax. A tax cut on zero dollars is zero. So, when you make  decision to vote, ask yourself, who 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 saving your  job. While the media wants to tell you “It’s the economy  Stupid” I’m telling you it isn’t. 

If you lose your  job, it won’t be at the hands of the economy; it will be at  the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this  country, steamrolled the Constitution, and will have changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me in  the South Caribbean sitting on a beach, retired, and with  no employees to worry about. 

Signed, Your Boss

Anywhere, USA 

Posted by the Advisor Analyst... click here.

Posted by the Free Republic (be sure to read some of the comments)... click here.

Posted by the Forum Garden... click here.


 
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