Nice Little Job You’ve Got There
by digby
… be a shame if anything happened to it.
Neal Boortz, a far-right radio host, argued today, “If Obama is hurting your business, and you have to lay off someone, why not lay off an Obama voter? They contributed to your problem.” Boortz added, “Why should you have to provide a livelihood to someone actively working to destroy your business?”
Now, as a matter of reality, the notion that President Obama might be hurting businesses is quite foolish. It was, after all, the president’s policies that rescued the economy and generated growth and job creation. I don’t know what Boortz is whining about.
But it’s this notion that conservative employers should fire Democratic employees that seems insane — and illegal. That it may actually be happening is especially disconcerting.
Last Friday, someone going by the name “dermdoc” posted a thread on a message board for Texas A&M students and alumni with this topic: “Laid off my first Obama voting employee today.”
“Our reimbursement rates are spiraling downward, taxes are projected to go up with Obamacare, so I did it,” the person wrote. He later added: “I made this decision because I can.”
“It is kind of interesting watching their face as you explain to them the economic consequences of the policies of the guy they voted for,” wrote dermdoc. […]
“Elections have consequences,” wrote dermdoc. “If you vote for someone who raises my taxes and lowers my income, you pay the cost.”
This is probably perfectly legal, by the way. The only federa protections you really have are on the basis of sex, race or religious discrimination and not many states go much further unless you have a union or employment contract.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of Republicans politically intimidating their employees, by the way. You’ll recall this jerk who fired his employee for refusing to remove the Kerry sticker from her car. But the idea that these people would begin a national campaign for this is taking it to the next level. In a period of high anxiety with 10% unemployment, I’d guess this kind of intimidation could affect people’s social interactions at work at the very least. At worst, Democrats could find themselves out of work.
You have to love some wealthy bastard firing his employees because they voted for someone who raised his taxes. Is this a great country or what? I think I just caught a big ole whiff ‘o freedom.
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