Washington politicians, including President Obama, have recently taken to using McCarthy like tactics to demonize corporations who host conventions and parties for their employees or customers or spend money on other “frivolous” activities. Bank of America, who along with several other banks, was forced to take bailout money by then Secretary of Treasury, Hank Paulson, recently came under fire for hosting a lavish Super Bowl party. Citigroup refused delivery of a new jet after pressure from the White House. AIG came under fire for spending $125 million for the priviledge of having its logo appear on the British soccer team, Manchester United’s uniforms. Merrill Lynch was ridiculed by the White House for spending $1.2 million renovating its corporate office.
The question is, when a company like Merrill spends $1.2 million renovating an office, what does that do, what happens? The answer is quite simple, STIMULUS. Stimulus happens. A contractor, decorator, drywallers, carpenters, and painters were hired. A furniture company was able to sell its products. The little guys, the very ones who the Obama administration and Democrats claim to stand for, benefit from these “lavish excesses”. What happens when corporations stop throwing conventions or lavish parties for their employees and customers? Lawrence Geller, President and CEO of Strategic Hotels and Resorts recently shed some light on the damage being done by our benevolent leaders in Washington.
“The hyperbole and rhetoric was notched up to gigantic levels during this recent political debate season. The bookings of our meetings have cut down drastically. We've lost an awful lot of major businesses, and it's not just those receiving government bailouts that are affected, but there's a general fear of criticism by people not only making the bookings but people attending these conferences so it's really got out of hand because the meetings and conference business is absolutely essentially to this nation. We lost 200,000 jobs last year. We thought if things went the same way we'd lose 240,000. This year, since the hyperbole got ratcheted up to these levels, we're on track to lose 350, 400,000 jobs. The ripple through the economy is gigantic, lodging and tourism is the third largest retail business in the country.”
You may be thinking, “Well, it’s the rich that goes to these things anyway, so why should I care?” The fact of the matter is the rich, except maybe the hotel owners, are not directly affected by this trend. The people that do these meetings are stopping because they are afraid of criticism from the president of the United States. The president of the United States personally is shutting down a large part of the travel and leisure industry in this country, purely on the basis of class envy. But who is really getting hurt? Aside from the hotel owners, who works at hotels? Who works in the travel and leisure business? It's the very little guy that the Obama administration and Democrats claim to stand for. If there are no guests arriving, if there are no conferences being held, if there's no food being prepared and consumed, if there are no hotel rooms being occupied, then there's no work for the maids and there's no work for the kitchen personnel, there's no work for any of the staff in the hotel and they get laid off. This is the grim reality of Obama’s politics that everyone is ignoring.
President Obama, you claim that you want to save jobs. You can start by putting an end to the class envy game you are playing because it is costing a lot of little guys their jobs. For some reason, I don’t think you really care about that. Maybe it is because you have not demonstrated that you do. You talk a good talk, but your actions speak louder than words. Is it because the more people who are out of a job and have to depend on the government to get by are all the more people who will vote for your government programs, and ultimately, you? This isn’t hope and change Mr. President; this is sick.
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