Florida billionaire warns employees about voting for Obama, I may have fire them

[BAMAPHIN 22]

A flashy Florida billionaire dubbed the "King of Versailles” says he’s willing to step away from his kingdom - a massive timeshare company - if Obama is re-elected, and warned his employees they should fear for their jobs if the president wins in November....

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[WVDolphan]

Dovahkiin!!!!

[Spesh]

David Siegel is the man who, together with his wife, Jackie, built the largest new house in America, known as "Versailles." His story first appeared in my book, "The High-Beta Rich." It then made it to the big screen with documentary film "The Queen of Versailles." They became symbols of outsized spending, debt and real estate in America.

But when the company started buckling under $1 billion in debt during the crisis, the Siegels' home went into foreclosure and was put up for sale. They cut back on the jet, took the kids out of private school and gave up some of their staff.

So why is David Siegel - a man who defined excess and debt in the 2000s - now saying that debt and spending are ruining the country?

I asked David during a phone interview last night, and he told me that this was about his workers, not himself. He said his own finances have vastly improved. He has paid off all of his major lenders. "I have enough money for the rest of my life and enough to leave a good inheritance for our kids." He said the loan for Versailles is paid off and he's resuming construction on the home.

"The elevators are going in and they're preparing to put in the marble."
The deal with Versailles' lenders, he went on, worked out "better than I imagined," since he was allowed to go nine months without making any interest payments on the loan. Jackie has several offers for a new reality TV show "which we're in the process of ranking and evaluating," Siegel said.

He has learned his own painful lesson from the debt crunch. "We cut back, we're lean and mean. That's what the rest of the country has to do."

Siegel said he's not acting out of self interest, but for the interest of his workers. While Westgate has never been more profitable, the company has 5,000 fewer workers than in 2007.

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"The Queen of Versailles" depicts the dashing of Siegel's mansion dreams after the recession hit. But just months ago, he restarted construction on his personal Palace of Versailles (with the intention of selling it for $100 million)
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, "We're the most profitable we've ever been."

Huge mansion. Huge fortune. Profitable company. What could David Siegal have to complain about? Well, the demonization of the 1% by Barack Obama, for one thing. This truly amazing email went out to all Westgate employees yesterday. Bolding is ours.

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Believe it or not, i try and avoid pointing out peoples lavish personal spendings and how they run their business. But come on man, your making money hand over fist while building a giant palace. If you dont want that money and giant palace, im sure someone else will happily dive into your market so they can make stupid amounts of profit.

The actual email is in the second link. Didnt read all of it, started laughing after i skimmed through some of the highlights:

As most of you know our company, Westgate Resorts, has continued to succeed in spite of a very dismal economy. There is no question that the economy has changed for the worse and we have not seen any improvement over the past four years. In spite of all of the challenges we have faced, the good news is this: The economy doesn't currently pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job however, is another 4 years of the same Presidential administration. Of course, as your employer, I can't tell you whom to vote for, and I certainly wouldn't interfere with your right to vote for whomever you choose. In fact, I encourage you to vote for whomever you think will serve your interests the best....

...So, when you make your decision to vote, ask yourself, which candidate understands the economics of business ownership and who doesn't? Whose policies will endanger your job? Answer those questions and you should know who might be the one capable of protecting and saving your job. While the media wants to tell you to believe the "1 percenters" are bad, I'm telling you they are not. They create most of the jobs. If you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the "1%"; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country.

[phins_4_ever]

Mr Siegel should shut his mouth. He is darn lucky that he can run his scheme for so many years.

Westgate faces several class action lawsuits.
Westgate had to settle a lawsuit with the United States government over illegal telemarketing stuff.
Mr Siegel was found guilty of sexual harrassment.

The list is long......

Now we can add voter suppression.

[MoFinz]

voter suppression? hardly. you could stretch and say hes coercing people, but he didnt deny anyone their vote. its the mans right to state his opinion, including his future actions. if he wants to cash out and enjoy his profits thats his right too.

personally, i find his rant as laughable as barbara streisand and alec baldwin whining about leaving the us if gw bush won election.

[TheWalrus]

Great job, Spesh. Knocked it out of the park.

[Dovahkiin]

Dovahkiin!!!!

I'm flattered you would think of me here but I honestly just don't have a lot of time to advise poor people not to be blatantly retarded. But perhaps I should send out a company email for the same reasons this guy here is.