Elections Have Consequences

Unfortunately, the reelection of Barack Obama may have some consequences that some in our nation’s voting electorate did not understand would come to pass. In this case, it has affected the lives of 22 residents of Nevada, who have been let go from their place of employment in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday’s Obama victory.

A business owner who wished to remain anonymous (for fear of retaliation by outsiders, I’d assume) let go 22 of his 114 workers yesterday, and by his account he predicted this result was coming.

Here is a transcript of a phone call he made to a local radio station, as provided by CBS Las Vegas:

“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.

“I explained to them a month ago that if Obama gets in office that the regulations for Obamacare are gonna hurt our business, and I’m gonna have to make provisions to make sure I have enough money to cover the payroll taxes, the additional health care I’m gonna have to do, and I explained that to them and I said you do what you feel like in your heart you need to do, but I’m just letting you know as a warning this is things I have to think of as a business owner.

“Well unfortunately, and most of my employees are Hispanic — I’m not gonna go into what kind of company I have, but I have mostly Hispanic employees — well unfortunately we know what happened and I can’t wait around anymore, I have to be proactive. I had to lay off 22 people today to make sure that my business is gonna thrive and I’m gonna be around for years to come. I have to build up that nest egg now for the taxes and regulations that are coming my way. Elections do have consequences, but so do choices. A choice you make every day has consequences and you know what, I’ve always put my employees first, but unfortunately today I have to put me and my family first, and you watch what’s gonna happen. I’m just one guy with 114 employees — well was 114 employees — watch what happens in the next six months. The Dow alone lost 314 points today. There’s a tsunami coming and if you didn’t think this election had consequences, just wait.”

Wealthy people only have so much money. It is certainly reasonable to ask people to contribute a proportional rate of their earnings to the greater good. But we must understand that what we are beginning to witness is the result of expecting too much from those who provide jobs to those of us who do not own a business.

There are predictions being floated that if our government does not solve this impending “fiscal cliff” we are likely to see immediate job losses for nearly one million Americans. The example above is mostly related to policy put forward by Barack Obama and the Democratic Party, but right now we must hold all of our elected officials feet to the proverbial fire or it’s going to get really ugly, really fast.