This is funny, but probably a hoax:
A Las Vegas business owner with 114 employees fired 22 workers today, apparently as a direct result of President Obama’s re-election.
“David” (he asked to remain anonymous for obvious reasons) told Host Kevin Wall on 100.5 KXNT that “elections have consequences” and that “at the end of the day, I need to survive.”
Here’s an excerpt from the interview. Click the audio tab below to hear even more from this compelling conversation:
“I’ve done my share of educating my employees. I never tell them which way to vote. I believe in the free system we have, I believe in the right to choose who they want to be president, but I did explain as a business owner that I have always put my employees first. I always made sure that when I went without a paycheck that [I] made sure they were paid. And I explained that I always put them first and unfortunately I’m at a point where I’m being forced to have to worry about me and my family now and a business that I built from just me to 114 employees.
The reason I think this is a hoax is because businesses just don’t employ people to sit around and do nothing (well, outside the National Review, that is). No business could survive with 20% of it’s workforce being nonessential. And if they are essential, the guy is just shooting himself in the foot. He would be unable to keep up with the demand for whatever product or service he has, and instead of building up his next egg (as he discusses later in the interview). He’s basically downsizing for no reason other than spite.
So either this guy is a complete moron (always possible), or this is a hoax.
Soylent Green is FReepers
I’m going to go with complete moron. Doncha know that he’s the “maker” and all those jobs are really just there to show the world what a maker he is?
I like the way he tries to make a virtue of making payroll before taking his cut. I bet he makes a big deal of it every time he vacuums or clears his own plate, too.
cmorenc
“moron” and “hoax” are not mutually exclusive possibilities, and neither is “bullshitter”. The other possibility is that either his business is down a bit or he’s found a way to get by with fewer employees via subcontracting/outsourcing, and he’s using this excuse as cover for some employee downsizing he was imminently going to to do anyway.
Citizen_X
Well, he is a Republican, so there is evidence for “moron.”
Eric U.
if you lay off 20% of your workers, the rest are going to go looking. I’ll hazard a guess that he’s in landscaping because he doesn’t offer health care coverage. Could be construction, I suppose. Probably seasonal layoffs disguised as the result of the election.
reflectionephemeral
So either this guy is a complete moron (always possible)
Yeah, remember the stories going around a little while back with folks threatening to go Galt because they didn’t want to get into a higher tax bracket? They were apparently unaware that federal income tax rates are marginal, so making more money would… still get them more money. They gave their names to interviewers and everything.
As I think Larry Summers put it in rebuttal to Efficient Markets Hypothesis fundamentalists, “There are idiots. Look around.” We have over 300 million people in this country. We’re gonna have some rich idiots. And the VRWC is out there to propagate the myth that Pres. Obama’s center-right governance is going to destroy America.
So I wouldn’t be shocked if this were true. Hopefully not, obviously; the fewer people who are jobless for no reason, the better.
Steve
It is probably just a hoax, but another plausible explanation is that the guy now has an excuse for laying off people that he wanted to lay off all along. It’s a standard business tactic to blame the government for layoffs, price increases, and everything else under the sun.
Our local drugstore chain has a sign in the window that says “we love your pets, but the State says you can’t bring them in the store, except for service animals.” The chance that this drugstore chain actually wants your mangy dog rampaging down the aisles is less than 1%. But apparently they think this sign sounds friendlier than “no pets allowed.”
Davis X. Machina
Baby steps, people.
Millennia ago in Mesopotamia or Cental Asia, or wherever, those people would have been buried with him in a barrow to serve him in the Otherworld.
Now, they’re just unemployed. And people say we’re not making progress.
Tractarian
This could be the same guy that has been pestering James Fallows all week.
LanceThruster
I was going to start a business (Lance the Plumber) and hire a bunch of people if Mitt Romney won (“I Almost Built That!”), but now I don’t have to because I’ll be able to continue living large on my gubmint entitlements.
Woo-hoo!
D0n Camillo
David Siegel backed the fuck out of firing hiis workers pretty quickly. Apparently he remembered taht he is running a glorified Ponzi scheme and doesn’t have any money to take out in the first place.
huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/08/david-siegel-westgate-letter-layoffs-firings-obama-win-victory-raises_…
Eric U.
@Tractarian: the guy pestering James Fallows was a moron. He only had a dozen employees. Shutting down his business was a crazy idea since I can’t imagine that he was otherwise employable.
trollhattan
OT, but…
They’d both deny it, but Giffords and Kelly are the two bravest people in the country.
nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/11/gabrielle-giffords-stares-down-jared-loughner.html
Felonius Monk
Soylent Green is FReepers
Please please please FSM, let these idiots make business decisions based on fantasies that result in shrinking their own net worth unnecessarily. If they can’t hack it in the reality based world, let them fail quickly and make way for other people, people with more sense than a rabid wombat.
As a token of respect, I offer you this plate of meatballs and pesto, to adorn your noodly appendages in splendor.
Robin G.
Three days ago I would have said it was a hoax. But wingnut seems to be attaining new heights hour by hour, so…
SparkleMotion!
Sort of amazing he was able to build and maintain that business over the last four years, no?
I’m pretty sure Obama was president then too.
General Stuck
Those jobs are safe. Low overhead for manufacturing outrage, and demand is high.
Seanly
If he actually has employees then he’s disguising layoffs with the election. But I think it’s just tough guy bluster.
Schlemizel
@Soylent Green is FReepers:
luv the nym! thanks!
jwb
Ha, ha. This is too good: Obama succeeded by suppressing the vote! It’s always projection with these idiots.
trollhattan
@SparkleMotion!:
Folks who use the Colbertian “decide from the gut” to run a business don’t tend to keep the doors open too long.
different-church-lady
Obviously you’ve never worked in a major corporation.
beltane
Mitt Romney planned a huge fireworks display over Boston Harbor to celebrate his VICTORY!! over the Kenyan usurper boston.com/politicalintelligence/2012/11/08/mitt-romney-planned-boston-harbor-fireworks-show-that-wa…
He must hate Massachusetts as much as Massachusetts hates him.
cbear
I’ll take “Who is Sheldon Adelson’s chicken rancher for $100, John.”
Craigo
Reminds me of James Fallows’ Atlas Shrugged correspondent, who claims to have “several high-paying positions” and a total payroll of almost 500K.
I guess in the landscaping field 200 bucks under the table every week is high-paying.*
*He actually appears to be a defense contractor living on federal largesse. Government out of my Medicare indeed.
Higgs Boson's Mate
Aside from the business aspects mentioned above, this guy reminds me of every RW troll who insists on telling us how successful they are.
Riiiiiight.
trollhattan
Which brings up the whole “uncertainty” canard behind America’s corporations sitting on unprecedented mountains of capital, awaiting delivery from the dusky usurper. Is the next uncertainty the money bluff, a.k.a. “fiscal cliff.” After that’s dealt with, what’s next, the NHL lockout or Madonna’s next “final” tour announcement?
Seanly
@different-church-lady:
That’s the middle managers and up in most corporations. Anyone doing billable work keeps busy.
Zifnab25
@trollhattan: Unprecedented mountains of US Treasury bonds. Apparently, despite its imminent collapse, the US Government remains an exceptional investment.
Ned F
this makes absolutely no sense unless his business is manufacturing Mitt Romney inaugural memorabilia.
Arm The Homeless
I refuse to believe that Peak Wingnut is a lie!
I think there are just multiple data-sets. But I sure do hope the idiots follow Herman Cain wherever he ends up.
Cris (without an H)
Dear KXNT’s Kevin Wall: reveal your sources or it didn’t happen.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Ned F:
Or Ann Romney’s Help Tested “Let ‘Em Eat Cake” mix.
Aet
“No business could survive with 20% of it’s workforce being nonessential. ”
Unless the business is failing. Or he thinks he can cash in from the desperation.
So, he claims he fired people because socialism LOOK OVER THERE, delivers a teary-eyed speech. Then he places a call into Fox News to tell his story.
Six months later he’s the new Joe the Plumber, making millions on the wingnut circuit with regular TV appearances, speaking jobs, and his own popular line of widgets.
DPS
If there were a channel that just showed tearful wingnuts reading their emo diary entries into the camera, I would watch it all the time.
Cris (without an H)
Also too:
Racist employer is racist.
Yutsano
@trollhattan: Gabby was on her way to being the next Senator from Arizona and I honestly think she could have won. I sincerely hope she recovers enough to take over for Grandpa Walnuts in 2016.
mai naem
I am guessing telemarketing. Seriously, if this fool wanted to get out of Obamacare which is what he was primarily complaning about, he could set up two or three cos. and split the employees up or add part time employees. If he supposedly has 114 employees he can definitely get away with it. He’s just a freaking bullshitter. Also if it for real, I am sure we’re going to hear from the laid off employees. Furthermore, he needs to fire 64 employees to get the 50 or less employees for Obamacare. And as far as payroll taxes, uhhmm, dimwit the payroll taxes have gone down for the employee side of it not the employer side of it.
Roger Moore
@different-church-lady:
Surfing the net and playing solitaire is not doing nothing!
Hungry Joe
“A Las Vegas business owner … “? Really? The guy doesn’t have a name? His business doesn’t have a name?
Of course, I heard a true story, I swear to god, a true story about a young couple who were necking (this was a long time ago) in a car in the woods, and they heard some scratching at the door, and …
Didn’t get their names either.
PurpleGirl
Cris (without an H): It’s a landscaping company and he was going to lay off the people anyway because his business is down.
ETA: Or maybe an office cleaning company and again, his business is down due to the recession.
LanceThruster
@Ned F:
I would actually buy Rmoney inauguration memorabilia as a valuable collectable like a double-strike coin or that upside-down airmail stamp.
Democrat Partisan Asshole
You will hear many more of these stories in the coming days and every one of them will be a hoax.
My family owns a business. We do not hire or fire people based on their politics, or who occupies the Oval Office. We don’t have time for that shit. We spend every day trying to keep our heads above water, get more business, and keep as many of our awesome workers employed and covered as we can. That’s all we have time for. We don’t have the time or the money to call up radio stations and grandstand. No business owner does.
What pisses me off is that every one of these stories will be reported as gospel truth.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Cris (without an H):
“And let me tell you, those taco-benders just love me. They even gave me a special name. They all call me Cool Arrow. I guess it has something to do with Indians.”
r€nato
@DPS: like
Liberty60
This meme- “employer lays off folks due to higher taxes” – is based on the deeper belief in the rightwing world that employers are beneificent Lords, bestowing jobs on lucky serfs.
No, employees are not net producers of surplus wealth; your wage is actually charity that you need to be thankful for.
jibeaux
I’m sorry, you’re being laid off.
Why?
Because of Obama.
What do you mean, because of Obama?
Because he was re-elected.
I’ve been working here the entire four years he’s been president. How is it different because he’s staying the president?
.
.
.
.
You’re being laid off because of Obama, ok?
LanceThruster
@Hungry Joe:
There was only enough left to identify them as John and Jane Doe.
Rick Massimo
The mindset is not that they have a right to make money, not even that they have a right to make a whole lot of money, but that they have a God-given right to make a metric $%^&ton of money AND make more money EVERY year forever and ever amen.
And that they employ people, and pay people, out of the goodness of their hearts, not because it helps them make money.
LanceThruster
@Higgs Boson’s Mate:
It’s part of the folklore of Native American mysticism. It means you have an inner vision as seen through your brown eye.
Roger Moore
@LanceThruster:
Those things are valuable because they’re rare. My guess is that Republican true believers were cranking out Romney Inauguration memorabilia in mass quantities, sure they were going to make a killing on it. You’ll be able to buy it by the truckload for steep discounts.
trollhattan
@Yutsano:
I’m with you, but I fear her injuries are too profound. Hope I’m wrong.
The Moar You Know
@Yutsano: I wish this was the case but given magnitude of the injury she suffered, I very much doubt she’ll be able to speak in complete sentences without serious coaching for the rest of her life.
James Brady is a textbook example of the lifelong effects of a gunshot wound to the head. His wound was from a far smaller bullet than Giffords, and damaged less of the brain. He is unable to walk, cannot recall simple words, but can speak in long sentences. The effects are unpredictable from patient to patient, but after a year of recovery you have a good idea of what deficits are going to remain.
I am not in favor of the death penalty but I’d make an exception for Loughner. I don’t buy the bullshit about his mental illness – that he was ill was a cetainty, but he wasn’t so ill that he couldn’t buy a gun, pick a specific politically-motivated target, and accurately shoot to kill.
Downpuppy
The baffling part is why some clown calling a radio station gets written up by a CBS TV station in Las Vegas as though it meant more than a catfart.
LanceThruster
@Roger Moore:
So I can game the market like a real bidnit man?
The Moar You Know
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: I fucking loled hard. Good one.
Cris (without an H)
lol
LanceThruster
So is Ann still worried about Willard’s mental health? Maybe she should have the help hide any sharp objects.
prometheus shrugged
The guy who laid off his work force must be married to the woman I saw parking in downtown La Jolla on election day in a brand new, fully loaded Toyota Highlander with a Romney bumpersticker saying “Unemployed is the only change I see” . In her case, I can prettily easily rule out the possibility of a hoax .
Cris (without an H)
@Downpuppy: The TV station and the radio station appear to be the same (KXNT).
jibeaux
@prometheus shrugged: La Jolla? It was probably a Romney. They’re mostly devoid of gainful employment.
Yutsano
@jibeaux: And shut up that’s why!!
I hope this asshole won’t screw his recently terminated staff out of unemployment. Assuming he actually exists.
the Conster
@DPS:
Like I said earlier, I haven’t had this much fun out of bed since forever. It’s like trying to drink champagne out of a firehose.
El Cid
He won’t show anyone, but he promises that his business is huge, manly, and ever-growing, and women are just calling to buy his services all the time.
El Cid
@Downpuppy: Maybe they just wanted to see how riled up they could get the nitwit brigades.
prometheus shrugged
@jibeaux: Yeah, that thought occurred to me. I was sorely tempted to embellish the bumper sticker accordingly.
MattR
@the Conster: You just found the marble in the oatmeal
Yutsano
@trollhattan: @The Moar You Know: Sigh. I fear you’re right. Although she has made great strides already, that communication barrier might never be overcome. I don’t think she’s done though.
ottercliff
The fact that he felt compelled to go on “100.5 KXNT” to announce this says it all.
Snarla
Imagine if he didn’t have to pay for those employees’ health care, because the government were taking care of that.
gogol's wife
@DPS:
Me too! This is hilarious. I don’t remember this quite happening last time.
Tin Roof
This.
The Red Pen
If Reddit hasn’t tracked down at least one of those 22 people by tomorrow, this is a hoax.
djangone
I’m from Las Vegas. Stupidest city in the country. I wouldn’t doubt this is true…
Three decades of brain drain as the better students fled a city that holds little hope of a career outside casinos and real estate leaves…’David.’ Sure, he may have been among the hordes who moved to Vegas, but still. People flooded to town to get lucky in real estate much the same way tourists visit to get lucky in casinos. Achievement, intelligence, not so much. Silly hopes for luck, much. Also, tea party crazies are everywhere in the golf-lovin’, SUV-drivin’, Starbucks drive-through-sippin’ areas of Summerlin and Green Valley.
JasperL
Whether this story is true or not, the complaint is a real one I see all the time. What gets me about this guy or those like him is he blames it on Obamacare. So he’s offloading the costs of his employees’ healthcare onto the rest of society, and he likes that arrangement pretty good. What’s not to like about socialized costs and privatized profits? And now that he’s going to have to assume some small part of those healthcare costs directly, he’s got a sad. Poor thing…. F’ing asshole.
Roy G.
This reminds me of the (true) story of a wingnut patron in a high-end San Francisco restaurant in the wake of the City mandating that restaurants pay for health insurance for their workers. Some just added the cost to the food, while other, more priggish restauranteurs call out the surcharge on the bill.
Said wingnut left $10 on a $300 tab, and a snotty note basically saying ‘the rest of your tip went to paying for your healthcare.’ The irony was that even with the surcharge, the guy left considerably less than 10%.
The moral of the story is this: wingnuts often justify their a-holish behavior by invoking some phantom liberal menace, but really, it’s just an excuse to be a prolapsed rectum in public.
blingee
yawn…or maybe he was going to lay them off anyways. It’s not that complicated to figure out John.
Don
Given how notorious morning call-in shows are for fake, paid-for calls and the lack of any identification or statements from anyone who was fired, yeah, I’m with Cole: this is BS.
There may be regulatory costs that businesses are going to have to pay as a result of the ACA but everyone is going to be paying them. So it’s a level playing field for employers.
It’s no different than health insurance has been for the last few decades. Employers didn’t legally have to offer it as a benefit – they just had to if they wanted to attract employees. Ezra Klein has commented in the past on its likely connection to stagnant wages – money poured into it rather than raises.
I mostly just assume any of these statements are lying bloviation, just like the “oh if my taxes go up I won’t be able to hire more people.” Anyone successful enough to pay people knows that salary is an expense; money you spend on wages isn’t taxed, so if you need to hire someone you do it.
Platonicspoof
Both, as cmorenc said at #2.
Moronic, as in real employees would put 2 and 2 together in which case the pretend owner just told them the beatings will continue until morale improves.
Hoax, as in glibertarian/repug is convinced the sky will fall and couldn’t wait until 2014 to claim there’s proof.
Triassic Sands
This wouldn’t be the dumbest thing a Republican ever did. Just look at trickle down economics and war with Iraq.