Is Mitt the great dictator or just a dick? This shit welcomes employer intimidation
False equivalence.
What’s the legal rationale? Wouldn’t any law threatening job losses based on the outcome of an election also apply to threats of benefit cuts? Is there going to be a general law against scaring voters?
I stand by my First Amendment right to condemn Romney for his remarks, and to encourage others to do the same.
That’s fine. I condemn half the things Democrats say to frighten their various interest groups into turning out.
What about the other half? 
Prior to the Citizens United decision, there were Federal Election Commission laws that curbed “employers from political campaigning among employees.” Lefty Cite: http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/14046/romney_instructed_employers_to_tell_employees_how_to_vote_in_conference_cal
Those laws still are in place, but they are narrow. Much like the laws against churches engaging in electioneering.
Now let’s say that the Obama administration is pursuing a policy that is actively hostile to certain industries. The industries should be barred from informing their employees that the President wants them to lose their jobs?
So, if I’m a business owner, would it be OK if I told my female employees that low cut blouses are good for business? [wink, nink, nudge, nudge]
If your business is Hooters it’s allowed.
A better citation says that the claim above is false: First, while there are laws against employers forcing workers to donate to campaigns, or reimbursing them for doing so, there is nothing illegal about employers simply urging their politics on their employees. Contra to some reports this week, this predates the 2010 Citizens United ruling—it falls under basic First Amendment protection of speech. (What Citizens United may have done—this is still being litigated at the Federal Election Commission—is make it possible for employers to make workers engage in campaign activity.)
Second, while it is not illegal, it strikes many of us as, well, wrong. The Boss Men And The Ballot Box | The New Republic
The Monarch: “Minions!” [aside to Brock] “They like that better than ‘henchmen’”, “Battle Stations!” - The Venture Brothers.
They can say what ever they want and employees can tell them what they want to hear… but the employer is still not allowed in the voting booth.
OTOH… I’d love to hear some idiot CEO try this on a programming team or people who aren’t actually working under slave wages and sweatshop conditions.
Maybe some independent group needs to put out an ad about how your vote is YOUR vote and no one gets to know how you voted.
In all fairness, a low cut blouse would be quite a bit more than they wear now.
The biggest problem I have is that it sounds like code language. As if he’s saying “Tell your employees to vote for me or they’ll be fired”. He’s addressing an organization which has a large majority Repub membership. He throws in the ‘Obama’ reference but he doesn’t really mean it. But I’ve also come to despise this guy as the campaign has continued so maybe I’m letting that affect my opinion. I’m find this distasteful if it Obama had said the same thing to a group of Democratic businessmen though.
Pictorial cite please.
This x 2
I define blouse as a shirt with sleeves. Here is a google images search for just the word Hooters and most images are from the restaurant (that I assume we’re all talking about). Their primary uniform is a tank top or nearly sleeveless shirt
ETA: D’oh… wooosh… but I leave the cite for those not familiar with this fine dining establishment.
Wait - Labor unions threaten for fire people if the candidate it supports doesn’t win?
That’s news to me.
No, this x0. This is a false equivalence, as labor unions don’t hold the power to terminate a member’s employment.
Some more context. David Seigel, the person who the article is about, runs a real estate business. He and his wife were in the process of filming a documentary about building the largest (or most expensive…I forget which) house in the US when the 2008 crash hit his business hard.
The “legal rationale” is telling or implying to your employees that you will fire them if they don’t vote a certain way is a form of extortion and voter intimidation.