# Challenge my conspiracy theory.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-my-conspiracy-theory/636800
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 5, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-my-conspiracy-theory/636800 "2012-10-05T13:09:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-my-conspiracy-theory/636800/1 "2012-10-05T13:09:41Z")
It’s safe to say most corporate heads outside of Silicon Valley are Republicans, correct? Is it fair to say that in the behind-closed-doors private donor meetings, these CEOs and corporate board members were encouraged to hire as few people as possible until after the election? Poor employment numbers only help the Republicans.
How crazy is this notion?
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-my-conspiracy-theory/636800/2 "2012-10-05T13:18:04Z")
It’s not like all companies can hire people and boom, the economy is good. There are economic indicators that show which sectors push the economy. The depressed housing market is still a big factor. That hasn’t changed. Are there contracts and orders that aren’t bring filled because of lack of workers? Are there thousands of open positions in profitable companies that are unfilled? No.
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### Author:  [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2012, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-my-conspiracy-theory/636800/3 "2012-10-05T13:32:26Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#):
>
> It’s safe to say most corporate heads outside of Silicon Valley are Republicans, correct?
You can justify this, right. I mean, you have some stats to back it up. Because, if the polls I have seen are anything to go by, the US seem pretty finely divided on a Republican/Democrat split and I would guess that corporate heads as a group reflect that split too.
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#):
>
> How crazy is this notion?
Pretty crazy. Successful business leaders don’t make counterproductive decisions to influence politics - that would make them unsuccessful pretty rapidly.
Si
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### Author:  [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-my-conspiracy-theory/636800/4 "2012-10-05T13:41:25Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#):
>
> Pretty crazy. Successful business leaders don’t make counterproductive decisions to influence politics - that would make them unsuccessful pretty rapidly.
Good. When it comes to this, I’d rather be crazy than right. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-my-conspiracy-theory/636800/5 "2012-10-05T13:47:42Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#):
>
> It’s safe to say most corporate heads outside of Silicon Valley are Republicans, correct?
It’s not safe to say that without something to back it up. I would suspect that more that 50% of CEOs would describe themselves as fiscally conservative, but that doesn’t mean a majority (let alone “most”) are Republicans.
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### Author:  [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-my-conspiracy-theory/636800/6 "2012-10-05T14:18:38Z")
Koch Industries: [https://kochcareers.taleo.net/careersection/2/joblist.ftl](https://kochcareers.taleo.net/careersection/2/joblist.ftl)
and its subsidiary Georgia Pacific: [https://kochcareers.taleo.net/careersection/22/joblist.ftl](https://kochcareers.taleo.net/careersection/22/joblist.ftl)
have over a 1,000 job openings currently listed. If your theory was accurate, surely this group wouldn’t be hiring.
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### Author:  [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-my-conspiracy-theory/636800/7 "2012-10-05T14:31:49Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#):
>
> have over a 1,000 job openings currently listed. If your theory was accurate, surely this group wouldn’t be hiring.
[tinfoil hat]
Sure they _say_ they are looking to hire, but have they actually hired anybody?
[/tinfoil hat]
That said, the idea that business owners or CEOs would purposefully hamstring their businesses for _years_ in the hopes that it hurt might thwart Obama’s re-election (and that their competitors wouldn’t “cheat” and hire people in the meantime) strikes me as rather implausible.
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-my-conspiracy-theory/636800/8 "2012-10-05T15:31:47Z")
Bad timing for your conspiracy theory. Unemployment dropped to its lowest since January 2009. [AOL - Finance News & Latest Business Headlines - AOL.com](http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2012/10/05/unemployment-rate-drops-to-7-8-percent-nearly-4-year-low/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D216001)
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### Author:  [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2012, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-my-conspiracy-theory/636800/9 "2012-10-05T16:31:22Z")
> [@Loach](#):
>
> Bad timing for your conspiracy theory. Unemployment dropped to its lowest since January 2009. [AOL - Finance News & Latest Business Headlines - AOL.com](http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2012/10/05/unemployment-rate-drops-to-7-8-percent-nearly-4-year-low/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D216001)
That’s because Romney won the debate. 😉
Regards,
Shodan
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-my-conspiracy-theory/636800/10 "2012-10-05T16:55:46Z")
Of course.
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### Author:  [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-my-conspiracy-theory/636800/11 "2012-10-05T17:06:28Z")
According to Jim Cramer on the _Today Show_ this morning, companies are making record profits without having to hire people to increase their profits. So why have an added expense of hiring people to increase the bottom line when the bottom line is already very, very good?
[This report appears to be saying](http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/06/30/258388/corporate-profits-recovery/) why hire anyone to increase your profits when you already have the money?
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### Author:  [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/challenge-my-conspiracy-theory/636800/12 "2012-10-05T17:19:58Z")
I believe a lot of companies are kind of holding their breath on hiring, waiting to see where things go in the economy before they invest in new workers. That is different room what the OP is talking about. I don’t think any single company is in a position to substantially affect the unemployment numbers beyond a fraction of a fraction of a percent, even if they want to.
Besides, if they wanted Romney to be president, CEOs would hire as many people as possible and make them all millionaires.