Tag Archives: David Siegel

November 9, 2012 · 4:33 PM

Fox News Claims Obama’s Win Triggered ‘Massive Layoffs Across America’

Well of course if Fox News says it, it’s not true.  It’s just another example of Fox News incessant lies…

 

Think Progress

According to Fox News’ Fox Nation website, the re-election of President Obama has triggered a wave of layoffs across the country. Fox Nation is featuring the claim prominently on its website (screenshot above). The evidence? One Utah company owned by a prominent Romney supporter has decided to lay off workers in the wake of election day:

A Utah coal company owned by a vocal critic of President Barack Obama has laid off 102 miners.

The layoffs at the West Ridge Mine are effective immediately, according to UtahAmerican Energy Inc., a subsidiary of Murray Energy Corp. They were announced in a short statement made public Thursday, two days after Obama won re-election.

The layoffs are necessary because of the president’s “war on coal,” the statement said. The slogan is one used frequently during the election by Murray Energy CEO Robert Murray, who was an ardent supporter of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Fox also linked to a series of other unrelated layoff stories, including those announcing layoffs in other countries, as if they proved the point. There are hiring and firings at firms all the time, and Fox presented no evidence that these layoffs were either related to the election or unusual in any sense.

Also, the claim that Obama has launched a “war on coal” is nonsense: coal employment hit a 15 year high last November, and coal jobs are either higher or at the same level as four years ago in West Virginia, Virginia, and Ohio.

The coal CEO laying off workers is the same one who forced his workers to attend a Romney rally in August. Those workers had to forgo a day of pay in order to attend the rally. In the past, Murray has also forced his workers to make campaign donations to Republicans.

Many CEOs threatened their workers with layoffs if Obama won the election. One of the most prominent, Florida timeshare mogul David Siegel, instead gave his workers a raise after Election Day.

But Fox is not only blaming Obama for layoffs. Earlier this week, Fox Business anchor Stuart Varney repeatedly blamed Obama for stock market losses.

UPDATE

One of the laid off workers took to Reddit today to answer questions. He said, “Despite the fact that nothing has changed in the two days since the election they decide to lay off employees. I’ve seen how corrupt the company can be over the years and am fairly certain the layoffs are just a way to make the President look bad.”

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October 11, 2012 · 1:14 PM

David Siegel: ‘I Didn’t Try To Intimidate’ Employees With Anti-Obama Email

Uh…yes you did.  You also did the same thing in 2008…

The Huffington Post

For Westgate Resorts CEO David Siegel, telling his employes they’ll lose their jobs if President Obama is reelected isn’t a threat. It’s a fact.

The Florida real estate tycoon, who recently restarted construction on his 90,000 square foot dream home, defended a private memo he sent to his employees telling them he “will have no choice but to reduce the size of [his] company” should Obama win the election come November.

Siegel, who has claimed he is “personally responsible” for getting George W. Bush elected, was criticized for striking fear in the hearts of his workers who may choose to vote for Obama. But he claims the memo wasn’t meant to be a threat.

“I didn’t try to intimidate anybody,” he told WKMG Local 6. Instead it’s simply a matter of preparing his employees for the worst, he later explained to CNBC’S “Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo.”

“I wanted to inform my employees of what their future would hold if they make the wrong decision,” he said on CNBC. “I wasn’t threatening any of the employees. If they vote for Obama they’re not going to lose their jobs.”

Siegel isn’t shy about letting employees go in tough times; in 2009 he laid off some 7,000 workers thanks to “tightening of the banks.”

And he isn’t the first CEO to make his political preferences known and not-so-subtly attempt to push them on his workers. Murray Energy Company employees were forced to lose a day’s pay to attend a mandatory Romney rally in August.

“Our managers communicated to our workforce that the attendance at the Romney event was mandatory, but no one was forced to attend,” a Murray Energy Company spokesman later told local news radio WWVA.

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