# Timeshare tycoon: If Obama re-elected, "I'll have no choice but to reduce the size of this company." **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 10, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270 "2012-10-10T00:33:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/41 "2012-10-10T14:37:50Z")
Bullshit anyway. If your taxes are increased, you just reinvest your profits into your business until your income falls back down into whatever tax bracket you find comfortable. Cutting jobs to keep your profits high doesn’t result in a smaller tax bill. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/42 "2012-10-10T15:37:46Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > The letter would be more effective had he attached a photo: [link.](http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2012/10/09/david-siegel-and-the-billionaires-sad-lament/) That woman on his lap – how much are the timeshares going for? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/43 "2012-10-10T15:47:49Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > That woman on his lap – how much are the timeshares going for? You couldn’t afford it. Which is to say, they can set up a 30-year payment plan. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/44 "2012-10-10T15:56:06Z")
You really have to see _The Queen of Versailles_ to get the full flavor of this guy and how completely delusional and out-of-touch he is. BTW, the woman on his lap in the picture is his wife, and surprisingly she is the more practical and realistic person in that couple. Although she is very privileged, she did not come from a rich background, and she at least gets the concept that you can’t spend money you don’t have. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/45 "2012-10-10T16:00:30Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > The letter would be more effective had he attached a photo: [link.](http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2012/10/09/david-siegel-and-the-billionaires-sad-lament/) Good lord…dude’s proposed master bedroom suite is almost three times the size of my whole house! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/46 "2012-10-10T17:12:06Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > the woman on his lap in the picture is his wife, and surprisingly she is the more practical and realistic person in that couple. The bar is set pretty low. David Siegel could have married Zsa Zsa Gabor and she’d be the practical and realistic person in the couple. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/47 "2012-10-10T17:48:54Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > David Siegel, CEO of timeshare company Westgate Resorts sent a lot a letter to his employees yesterday warning them of the apparent dangers of re-electing Obama… > > …Anyway, now that I think about it, I kind of wish he’d close up shop. It’d mean fewer timeshare assholes bugging me while I’m on vacation. I think we found John Galt. > [@gamerunknown](#): > > Once management disengages to the Caribbean or the Utopia hidden in Colorado’s mountains in order to escape a country rapidly descending into socialism, we’ll quickly learn not to call for class warfare by threatening to strike or leave the country due to cuts in petty entitlements like healthcare and food. They’ll just drop everything they own and go live with John Galt. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > Surely the peiople who work for this guy know about his circumstances and his outrageous house, and can factor that in when deciding how much value to attach to this letter. > > Or are we collectively too stupid for that sort of reasoning? They certainly seem to think so. > [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Bullshit anyway. If your taxes are increased, you just reinvest your profits into your business until your income falls back down into whatever tax bracket you find comfortable. Cutting jobs to keep your profits high doesn’t result in a smaller tax bill. His missive only makes sense if he is operating at a loss. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/48 "2012-10-10T18:01:28Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > You really have to see _The Queen of Versailles_ to get the full flavor of this guy and how completely delusional and out-of-touch he is. BTW, the woman on his lap in the picture is his wife, and surprisingly she is the more practical and realistic person in that couple. Although she is very privileged, she did not come from a rich background, and she at least gets the concept that you can’t spend money you don’t have. She was definitely the more interesting of the two in that movie. It kills me that she became an engineer in the 70s and then totally poofed into that thing. There’s also a bit where he talks about lending GWB a hand in Florida in 2000 but he didn’t want to delve into specifics because he’s pretty sure whatever it was he did was at best quasi-legal. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/49 "2012-10-10T18:33:34Z")
All he needs is an ugly rug on his head and he could be another Donald Trump. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/50 "2012-10-10T18:55:02Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Bullshit anyway. If your taxes are increased, you just reinvest your profits into your business until your income falls back down into whatever tax bracket you find comfortable. Cutting jobs to keep your profits high doesn’t result in a smaller tax bill. No shit. Do you really think that he doesn’t understand that? What is arguably true is that he will prosper more in a Romney Administration or at least that’s what he thinks. He was using the letter as a scare tactic to get Romney more votes. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/51 "2012-10-10T19:08:20Z")
“You see, I can no longer support a system that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, so will your opportunities.” What a bunch of horseshit. Businesses are not charitable job-providing organizations. They are for-profit organizations. They hire employees to perform work that they wish to be completed. If there’s no need for the work to be completed, then there’s no need for the job. His needing to be ‘motivated’ doesn’t enter into it unless he’s choosing to not hire people he needs to sustain or expand his business out of spite, in which case, screw him and let more business-oriented companies pick up his space of the market. The case that him having to stop building his dream home (the biggest in the US) being such an intolerable sacrifice is laughable, and as is the idea that he’s nobly doing so for the sake of employees. I couldn’t give half a shit if he feels terribly unmotivated. Effective tax rates on the super wealthy are [extremely low](http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/02/our-oppressed-billionaires) and if he can’t thrive in anything but a regressive tax environment then maybe he’s not quite as productive as he thinks. It’s just fearmongering. Obama’s gonna make me take yer jerbs! Not surprising from a lifelong scam artist. [Here’s one more tasty quote:](http://nymag.com/movies/reviews/queen-of-versailles-edelstein-2012-7/) > [@](#): > > Early in the film, when he’s still riding high (actually, he’s sitting on a throne), he tells Greenfield, “I got George W. Bush elected president.” How? Smirk. “I’d rather not say it. It may not necessarily have been legal.” Happily destroying democracy to fleece a buck. Fuck that guy. ---
**Author:** ![Shoujin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoujin/32/3884_2.png) [@Shoujin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoujin)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/52 "2012-10-10T19:09:34Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > So Dan Siegel might attempt to secede and then declare war on the United States? > > Best. War. Ever. [Might be a bit one sided.](http://youtu.be/ZpBkc2jK-6w) ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/53 "2012-10-10T19:23:09Z")
He should just fire them all now while they still have time to get their free phone. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/tpAOwJvTOio/maxresdefault.jpg "Original Obamaphone Lady: Obama Voter Says Vote for Obama because he gives a free Phone") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpAOwJvTOio) ---
**Author:** ![dataguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eada6e/32.png) [@dataguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dataguy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/54 "2012-10-10T19:32:07Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > His missive only makes sense if he is operating at a loss. I don’t think it even makes sense then. If he’s operating at a loss he’s not paying any taxes. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/55 "2012-10-10T20:00:17Z")
Just think of all those prospective buyers who are Googling his company name this week, next week… trying to do their due diligence/research on the company that is pushing them to invest in time shares… I hope that article stays at the top of the Google search for a very, very long time. There’s no way I’d touch a company that’s run by a nut job like that. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/56 "2012-10-10T20:06:52Z")
This is like a Mafioso threatening to get out of the drug and extortion business because sales taxes on his bling are too high. BTW, if he started 42 years ago, he clearly spent about 30 years working hard with the high Clinton tax rate - so he calls himself a liar. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/57 "2012-10-10T20:24:17Z")
All I can think about as I read about this guy is what happened to the last guy that lived in a massive house he named Versailles. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/58 "2012-10-10T20:28:01Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > All I can think about as I read about this guy is what happened to the last guy that lived in a massive house he named Versailles. Hitler? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/59 "2012-10-11T11:25:15Z")
It gets better. He was interviewed yesterday about all this: [http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ceo-workers-youll-likely-fired-131640914.html](http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ceo-workers-youll-likely-fired-131640914.html) > [@](#): > > 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.” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270/60 "2012-10-11T13:10:44Z")
> [@Shoujin](#): > > [Might be a bit one sided.](http://youtu.be/ZpBkc2jK-6w) Oh, I don’t know. Just imagine how many troops we’d have to commit just to occupy a house that size. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/timeshare-tycoon-if-obama-re-elected-ill-have-no-choice-but-to-reduce-the-size-of-this-company/637270.md?page=4)