We talked the other day about some business leaders using heavy-handed election tactics, pressuring their employees to support Mitt Romney, even going so far as to suggest the workers' jobs are on the line. What we didn't know is what the Republican candidate has done to encourage these efforts.
In These Times published this audio clip yesterday, and our pal James Carter isolated the relevant portion:
For those who can't listen to clips online, here's a transcript what Romney said during his June 6 conference call with the far-right National Federation of Independent Business:
"I hope you make it very clear to your employees what you believe is in the best interest of your enterprise and therefore their job and their future in the upcoming elections. And whether you agree with me or you agree with President Obama, or whatever your political view, I hope, you pass those along to your employees. There's nothing illegal about you talking to your employees about what you believe is best for the business, because I think that will figure into their election decision, their voting decision."
We know, of course, that plenty of Romney allies have taken the advice to heart, including David Siegel, the CEO of a large timeshare company, who sent a lengthy written tirade to his workers, telling them President Obama's re-election would "threaten your job." There have been similar incidents involving Arthur Allen, CEO of ASG Software Solutions; Bob Murray, CEO of coal company Murray Energy; Richard Lacks, CEO of Lacks Enterprises; and of course, the Koch brothers.
As for whether Romney's correct about the legality, this isn't my area of expertise, but The Atlantic's Adam Clark Estes wrote, "It's not technically illegal for employers to tell their employees how to vote. That doesn't mean that it's ethical or understandable or even acceptable to connect people's livelihoods with their political beliefs. There's a fine line between an employer telling an employee, 'Vote Romney!' and a boss telling a subordinate, 'Vote Romney, or else!' At least, in the eyes of the inevitably subordinate employees there's not."
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http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/10/17/new-revelation-at-47-dinner-romney-was-hoping-for-something-like-iran-hostage-video/ Would someone please check this out already?
Let's say Romney becomes president. He may even want to be a good president, to serve the citizens of the United States rather than special interests. He starts pushing fair policies through congress. Everyone is surprised by his turnaround. But one morning he wakes up with an elephant's head in his bed. When you're a mascot on the big boys team they don't let you compromise. You play their game, their way.
The late grate Bill Hicks ladies and gentlemen
I have this feeling that whoever is elected president, like Clinton was, no
matter what you promise on the campaign trail – blah, blah, blah – when you win,
you go into this smoke-filled room with the twelve industrialist capitalist
scum-@!$%#s who got you in there. And you're in this smoky room, and this little
film screen comes down … and a big guy with a cigar goes, "Roll the film." And
it's a shot of the Kennedy assassination from an angle you've never seen before
… that looks suspiciously like it's from the grassy knoll. And then the screen
goes up and the lights come up, and they go to the new president, "Any
questions?" "Er, just what my agenda is." "First we bomb Baghdad." "You got it
…"
Well said.
Isn't an employer saying "Vote Romney, or bad things may happen down the road to your job" dangerously close to the "economic threats" portion of electoral fraud? Consider this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_fraud#Intimidation (surely there's a better source than Wiki, but I was able to find this quickly and easily). Specifically: "Economic threats: In company towns in which one company employs most of the working population, the company may threaten workers with disciplinary action if they do not vote the way their employer dictates." So isn't this illegal, or at least remarkably close to it? Can someone with a better knowledge of the law confirm or deny this for me?
@Laura-400055 - I was in church on Sunday when the pastor told 1,500 people to vote for Mitt because of his right to life stance.
We need to be fearful of our future is Mitt wins. There will be a wider gap between the rich and the poor. We will have less choices regarding our health. We will be hated around the world. We will be miserable as we hear CEO Mitt tell us that this medicine is good for me. After all, the boss knows best. Problem is, this is a country and not a company.
What Pastor and what Church? This violates the IRS code for being tax exempt. We need to start fighting back and reporting these abuses to the IRS.
If these bosses follow though and lay off/fire their employees after the election if President Obama won you can't tell me that is not a law suite waiting to happen. There was intend and you could show damage.
This is a country, not a company.
This is a country, not a company.
This is a country, not a company.
What we have here is a candidate with a severe case of narcisstic personality disorder.
1) He has an exaggerated view of his capabilities.
2) He has no empathy.
3) He treats those that he perceives as beneath him as unworthy.
4) He believes his lies.
5) People are a source for his severe need for attention.
6) He uses his charity and service to others to mask his need for accolades.
I will take this one step further and say sociopath, and I agree with you 100% The only way to deal with a narcissist is to go right back at him. You cannot stop. You MUST show no fear. He will continue to tell you the sky is purple until you start to question yourself. I wish someone (Rachel perhaps) would do a story on narcissistic personality disorder and how you deal with it. Thank you for posting this. I've been saying this about Mitt, Newt and Sara P for a long, long time.
I just hope that the employees have enough sensse to vote for who the person who they feel that will have them and their families in mind.
Tennessee Code Annotated § 2-19-134 (2012).
Title 2 Elections.
Chapter 19 Prohibited Practices.
Part 1 Prohibited Practices Generally.
2-19-134. Coercing or directing employees to vote for measure, party, or person -- Penalty.
(a) It is unlawful for any person to coerce or direct any employee to vote for any measure, party or person who may be a candidate for any office, or for any person who may be a candidate for nomination for any office, to threaten the discharge of such employee if the employee votes or does not vote for any such candidate for nomination or for office, or for any particular policy or measure.
(b) It is unlawful to discharge any employee on account of such employee's exercise or failure to exercise the suffrage, or to give out or circulate any statement or report calculated to intimidate or coerce any employee to vote or not to vote for any candidate or measure.
(c) A violation of this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
HISTORY: Acts 1972, ch. 740, § 1; T.C.A., § 2-1934; Acts 1989, ch. 591, § 113.
I had a girlfriend 10 years ago who's parents were from the Ukraine. She told me stories all the time about how they were pressure to vote for certain candidates. They would vote at work with a nice big man standing right next to you to make sure you voted the "right" way.
Quick Psychology 101: Psychological projection is a psychological defense mechanism where a person subconsciously denies his or her own attributes, thoughts, and emotions, which are then ascribed to the outside world, usually to other people. Thus, projection involves imagining or projecting the belief that others originate those feelings .
This how the republicans throw labels at President Obama while being while being not so sneaky about their own agenda.
I know we all want things to get better in America but please wake up set down the remote stop watching the latest "America has whatever" show. This election will have major consequences. ie economy, Supreme Court and basic services.
I was taught that no matter how much or how little you have you are to help the least fortunate. I'm not a Christian but some Christ-like values would be nice about now. (do unto others, healing the sick, not valuing wealth...)
If it wasn't for voter intimidation, voter fraud, Diebold, the lies and the cheating, the teapubs would be big losers all over the place.
Back in 2008 I was pulled aside by my boss and HR department because I was communicating with like minded employees of mine who were also supporting Barack Obama in my office. I was told to stop because it could make people who did not support Barack Obama uncomfortable and think I would be biased against them as the economy continued to collapse. I never ever ever was biased against any of my employees I was very scared about what we were going through and very scared about what we were about to go through. It didn't matter what their political or religious views were. These people had families and our economy was going to total @!$%# in 2008 and had never really recovered under President Bush. I was very proud of how few people in my office that lost positions. My stubbornness about not looking to maximize profits during that time is what probably ultimately what caused the company to move to a more business oriented manager and I moved to
a more technical role. Looking back I don't care, the people are ultimately what mattered, not another couple of % on the margin. My office was still profitable and ultimately I believe that the talent that I saved served the office well and the new managers are benefiting from that. I am not bad mouthing my previous employer. After all I still have strong ties there and they are very good people that treat people well.
And the Rmoneys really don't like it when they're called out in their lies.
http://americablog.com/2012/10/tagg-romney-punch-swing-hit-obama.html
Tagg better be careful,
Sasha OR Malia would kick his ass.
And Tagg? His saying that, Isn't that another fine example of poor parenting?
.
So I used my blog to write a review of Drift. The story of Drift does not end it keeps right on with both and all administrations. Either winner in 2012 will cause us to move toward more executive control that is natural of Presidents. One candidate will run screaming toward it backed by his Bush advisers the President will be guided by the law and whatever rule the Congress after the election can exert. http://chasmcduffee.blogspot.com/2012/10/drift-by-rachel-maddow-book-review.html Rachel Maddow is a powerful thinker, writes like she talks, checks her sources, and has written a potent book. Read it and weep, then vow (to yourself, not Grover) to make the place better!
This is shameful and a violation against individual' rights. I hate to say it some of Catholic Bishops and Pastors have done the same which I find even more disgusting and an abuse of power. The latter of course is about Obama and the contraceptive /abortion issue.
Isn't this voter intimidation?
Depends.
Whose doing it?
If it serves the Right Wing it's Good and Godly and Righteous,
If it's anyone else it deserves prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.
You know that.
;)
I knew this girl who worked in a law office in '08.
The lawyers told her if Obama got elected they would have to close shop.
Obama got elected and she got laid off.
The firms specialty? Real estate Law. Seems that would have been a booming business at the end of Shrubs Reign and into Obamas first term.
Seems to me employers are looking for an excuse and any excuse will do.
.
.
This is the kind of crap that started the French Revolution!
Rachel please have Ezra do a chart on 1. How many jobs Bain shipped to other countries. 2. How many total people and/or families were affected? l3. How many lost pension funds 4. How many people had to utilize entilements i.e. food stamps, welfare, unemployment, medical care, lost saving accounts 5. How many homes foreclosed. Please include Sensata. 6. How much tax base lost due to US having to foot the bill 7. How much tax base lost for off shore accounts and investments. I want to know how many people Romney has put out of work and over how many years.
The Kochs must be holding Mittens "Feet to the Fire!".I hope this ploy fails,Time to repeal Corporations United!
No son of a bitch tells me how to vote! If churches promote a political agenda they should lose their tax exempt status.
How would a company ever find out who you really voted for? Seriously.
That being said, certain industries may in fact benefit from one candidate or the other, and I don't see anything very wrong with stating what affects the business livelihood.
There is a difference however, in whether the CEO is speaking the truth on what might affect the livelihood of the actual business, versus what will affect just the CEO's personal income tax rate...I hope CEOs are honest if they have that discussion.
What is a much bigger issue is the churches in this country who, in order to maintain tax exempt status, cannot directly campaign for a candidate. However, there are many churches who are right in that grey zone where some of the things being said from the pulpit and some of the actions on the ground might come close to crossing the line.
Of all the voter shenanigans this year, this one upsets me the least. While I agree that it's a bit sleazy to attempt to get bosses to tell their employees how to vote, there is no actual enforcement, because it's impossible. The CEO of a company can tell his minions how to vote (and they do it all the time), and they can happily ignore it without facing any consequences whatsoever. It's not possible to prove that you voted the way the CEO wanted.
I worked under Carly Fiorina once, and we got a list handed down for the recommended candidates that would be "good for our company". I didn't even look at it , and I don't know of a single colleague who cared at all about that list. As a CEO, that's pretty much all you can do -- you can urge your people to vote one way, and hope that they listen. Chances are they don't.
I find it much more upsetting when a group of miners are forced to go to a Romney event on their spare time, or face consequences. That one should be (and probably is) illegal. There is no way for an individual to silently protest, and now they've been a visible part of a campaign they may not support.
Obviously employees in general fall into the category of those who can't, won't, or are otherwise unable to take responsibility for themselves in determining proper actions. I think it's very laudable of Romney and his compatriots to reach down to these 47%ers and take the time and energy to "instruct" them as to proper voting behavior. After all, as Romney said, he normally hasn't got time to worry about them.
Just simply amazing!!!! He tried to make his remarks look bi-partisan but it's obvious that he's speaking in a Republican settings so we know EXACTLY what he means- vote Republican or your job is on the line.
Dear Rombot,'
You are a dispicable piece of work and I got news for you....YOU'RE FIRED.
You have committed perjury as a sworn officer of the government. You have lied to the general public over American airways. You have committed borderline acts of treason against the US and the President by one, refusing to cough up your financials, and two, actually accusing the President of things he did not do. You are also liable for sexual harassment of the women of this country...all of them. Your snarkiness regarding the 47% who pay taxes but are poor...or just poor...or seniors, veterans and the disabled.........
Signed, The Citizen from Hell, owner of her own vote.
My God I do hope people recognize the fact that when they go in to the voting booth, they can vote as they please, in private. NO ONE has the right to ask you how you voted. It is your absolute right to vote the way you choose, and secretly.
How is it the government can sanction a church for promoting a politicaian? and not these guys? There is something very evil in this, and I for one, don't like it. We are letting these people get away with fascist Nazi tactics and no one but Rachel and a few are speaking up. This is an iceberg sinking our ship.