Jon Stryker Top Donor To Obama To Lay Off Workers Ahead of Medical Device Tax

I'm sure you've heard of all the liberal calls to boycott the companies that are claiming they'll have to layoff workers as a result of Obamacare, and the medical device tax. Of course, most of those CEOs voted for Mitt Romney, but one man stands out in the list of growing companies that are planning cuts. His name is Jon Stryker, and he's a billionaire from Kalamazoo, Michigan.  He owns Stryker Corp.

Jon is also a Democrat. In fact, this past summer, he donated over $2 million dollars to  Barack Obama super PACS. He also happens to rank as one of the top five contributors to Obama's campaign. Jeffrey Katzenberg (CEO of Dreamworks) gets top dog position at $2.566 million. But Jon's donations weren't too shabby.

According to the Associated Press, Stryker is tied for third place in contributions to Obama with Fred Eychaner, founder of Chicago-based publisher Newsweb Corp.

Stryker has donated $2 million to the Priorities USA Action super PAC, which supports Obama, AP reported. He has also given $66,000 in contributions to Obama and the Democratic Party. In July, Stryker wrote a $750,000 check to Priorities Action USA.

According to campaign filings, Stryker made three donations this summer: on June 12, he gave $750,000, on July 20, $750,000 on Aug. 29, $500,000.

That's a lot of moolah. Think of how many hungry mouths that could feed, or jobs that could provide in this country. But I digress.

Jon has this medical device company. He purchased another company, Gaymar Industries, in 2010 for $150 million. Along with that acquisition came two facilities located in New York State. The government is also going to implement a 2.3% tax on medical device sales in January 2013. So guess what? To make up for that increase, Jon is going to close those two New York plants and fire 107 employees by the end of the year. He plans on cutting his workforce by 5% and slashing $100 million from his operating costs.

As a Democrat, and a rich one to boot, shouldn't he be glad to pay the government taxes? Guess not.

Think any liberals will take him to task for this, like they are Papa Johns, Darden Restaurants, and all those other companies that are about to layoff employees. Nah.

Koch Brothers Tell Employees Layoffs Imminent If Obama Wins

You can add the Koch brothers and their Koch Industries (among others) to the list of bosses telling their employees that voting for Barack Obama could adversely affect their jobs. 45,000 workers at Georgia Pacific received a voter information packet telling them how to vote and why.

In it was a letter, dated Oct. 1, from Koch Industries president Dave Robertson implicitly warning that "many of our more than 50,000 U.S. employees and contractors may suffer the consequences" of voting for President Obama and other Democrats in the 2012 elections, a list of conservative candidates the company's political action committee endorses and a pair of editorials: one, by David Koch, supporting Mitt Romney, and the other, by Charles Koch, condemning Obama.

"While we are typically told before each Presidential election that it is important and historic, I believe the upcoming election will determine what kind of America future generations will inherit," Robertson's letter--first published by InTheseTimes.com--begins.

"If we elect candidates who want to spend hundreds of billions in borrowed money on costly new subsidies for a few favored cronies, put unprecedented regulatory burdens on businesses, prevent or delay important new construction projects, and excessively hinder free trade, then many of our more than 50,000 U.S. employees and contractors may suffer the consequences, including higher gasoline prices, runaway inflation, and other ills. This is true regardless of what your political affiliation might be."

Robertson's letter continued:

To help you engage in the political process, we have enclosed several items in this packet. For most of you, this includes information about voter registration deadlines and early voting options for your state. At the request of many employees, we have also provided a list of candidates in your state that have been supported by Koch companies or by the KOCHPAC, our employee political action committee.

I want to emphasize two things about these lists. First, and most important, we believe any decision about which candidates to support is -- as always -- yours and yours alone, based on the factors that are most important to you. Second, we do not support candidates based on their political affiliation. We evaluate them based on who is the most market-based and willing to support economic freedom for the benefit of society as a whole.
If you are concerned about our economy, our future and enhancing the quality of life for all Americans, then I encourage you to consider the principles of your candidates and not just their party affiliation. It is essential that we are all informed and educated voters. Our future depends on it.

And ASG Software honcho, Arthur Allen, zipped off an email to his many employees.

Many of you have been with ASG for over 5, 10, 15, and even 20 years. As you know, together, we have been able to keep ASG an independent company while still growing our revenues and customers. But I can tell you, if the US re-elects President Obama, our chances of staying independent are slim to none. I am already heavily involved in considering options that make our independence go away, and with that all of our lives would change forever. I believe that a new President and administration would give US citizens and the world the renewed confidence and optimism we all need to get the global economies started again, and give ASG a chance to stay independent. If we fail as a nation to make the right choice on November 6th, and we lose our independence as a company, I don't want to hear any complaints regarding the fallout that will most likely come. [snip] I am asking you to give us one more chance to stay independent by voting in a new President and administration on November 6th."

And so it goes, and will continue to go.

Jon Lovitz Skewers Obama

Former Saturday Night Live comedian and Democrat Jon Lovitz (who happened to vote for Obama) layed into Barack Obama on a podcast of his  ABC’s of SNL.

“This whole thing with Obama saying the rich don’t pay their taxes is fucking bullshit. And I voted for the guy and I’m a Democrat. What a fucking asshole.”
“The rich don’t pay their taxes? Let me tell you something, right, first they tell you–you’re dead broke–This is the United States of America, you can do anything you want, go for it. So then you go for it, and then you make it, and everyone’s like, Fuck you.” 

Co-host Kevin Smith argued with Lovitz that he was unfairly ripping on the 99%, Lovitz fired back by saying the director was “masquerading as a 99%er.”

More and more are becoming disenchanted with Obama, but not enough to make much of  a dent, and probably not enough to stop them from voting for him again.  And there are still many who are as enamored of him as they were when they voted for him four years ago.

Listen to other parts of the podcast, below.

LANGUAGE WARNING!

Rick Santelli Bashes The Buffet Rule

CNBC on-air editor Rick Santelli lashes out against the Buffett Rule. 

Most of my "99%"er cohorts agree with Obama's assessment that the top money makers need to be paying more taxes. But what they don't realize is that if all those wealthy patrons of the arts are taxed more, the first thing they will do away with is funding the arts. The economy has already hit the performing arts industry very hard, with losses of many theatres (some major) nationwide. I predict there will be many more going belly up, if the Buffett Rule goes into effect. Most of us are already scrambling to find work to keep up with our insurance, fewer theatres will make it even more difficult to qualify. 

Why doesn't Buffett  just donate a bunch of his cash to the government to help lower the deficit? But just like all those other 'patriotic millionaires' who called for higher taxes but refused to donate to the treasury department, Buffett would never think of parting with his millions.

Millionaire Obama Has Nothing In Common With The 99% Who Still Adore Him

This photo has been making the rounds on Facebook, along with all the expected nastiness.

The individual that photoshopped these two pictures together clearly wanted to make everyone think that Romney is completely out of touch with the people compared to Obama. After all, here's millionaire Mitt Romney getting his shoes shined, while Barack Obama is fist-butting, or whatever that gesture is called, the common man.  The problem is, that's no shoeshine man, that's a TSA agent with a security wand doing his thing.

Whether it was a deliberate act to mislead or not, it was enough to cause a maelstrom of anger directed towards not just Romney but the entire Republican lot.  Even when one liberal 'friend' posted that he did not approve of the misleading propaganda, one piped in saying it was fair play because of Republican "lies." Referencing some programme she saw, another launched into a long diatribe about the Republican candidates'  "mansions" and how she believes Obama has her best interests at heart.  She believes he simply wants to put the country back on the right track- including cutting the debt. She went on to say that she believed the right wing wealthy candidates have nothing in common with her or the majority of the country.

Talk about out of touch, both my 'friend' and Obama. My friend is as out of touch because of her woeful, willful ignorance.  Obama, on the other hand is just out of touch because he is who he is. First of all, he's an elitist and a millionaire, to boot. People talk about Obama as though he's one of them, when he's not. He's one of the so-called "1%" along with all the Republicans everyone loves to lambaste:

In 2010 Gingrich paid 31.7% tax on $3,142,066 adjusted gross income, while Obama only paid 26.3% on $1,728,096. Newt Gingrich has a net worth of 7 million, on the other hand Obama has a net worth of 10.5 million.  And it's not like Obama lived in a nice, modest home when he was a Chicago senator.  In 2005 he purchased a home for over 1.5 million dollars, although it's not worth as much due to the housing crash. Obama also takes $4 million vacations, and his wife has a penchant for expensive designer clothes, as frightfully ugly as they might be.

Obama has absolutely nothing in common with my 'friend' or the other 99% who still adore him. 

"Occupy" The NFL, MLB and the NBA!

So, I admit, I don't care much about sports. I wouldn't know if the Seattle Mariners were football, baseball or basketball players. I do know, however, that most of those athletes are paid obscene amounts of money. 

Let's look at what the top 10 NFL players will get in 2011:

1.    Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts - $23 million.
2.    Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams - $18.4 million
3.    Tom Brady, New England Patriots - $18 million
4.    Michael Vick, yes, that Michale Vick, Philadelphia Eagles - $15.9 million (bumped from $5.5 million in 2010, on a one year deal)
5.    Richard Seymour, Oakland Raiders - $15 million (with a 2 year $30 million extension)
6.    Elvis Dumervil, Denver Broncos - $14 million (with a 61 million extension from 2009, including an 8 million base plus a $6 million bonus this current season)
7.    Mark Sanchez, New York Jets - $13.5 million
8.    Gerald McCoy, Tampa Bay Buccaneers - $12.8 million (with a 5 year $63 million deal, including $12 million bonus this current season)
9.    Haloti Ngata, Baltimore Ravens - $12.5 million
10.  Paul Soliai, Miami Dolphins - $12.4 million

But they aren't the only ones making a killing. Other players in the NFL are profiting quite nicely, thank you very much.

Offensive linemen like Miami’s Jake Long ($11 million a year) and St. Louis’ Chris Long ($6 million) along with premium defensive backs like Denver’s Champ Bailey ($11.5 million), Philadelphia’s Nnamdi Asomucha ($12 million) and the Jets’ Darrelle Revis ($7 million following a holdout last season) certainly rake in their share of the riches.

But Peyton Manning's 23 million greenbacks per year can't compare to what MLB baseball player Albert Pujols just got to join the Los Angeles Angels: 254 million buck-a-roonies over 10 years. And Pujols' $25.4 million per annum pales in comparison to MLB's Alex Rodriquez of the New York Yankees and his whopping $32 million annual salary; followed closely by Vernon Wells of the L.A. Angels and his $26,642,857 million. But don't feel sorry for the others, plenty of Major League Baseball players are making well over $15 million per year for batting a ball with a bat.

With all those millions rolling in to their bank accounts, they definitely qualify as members of that  elite "1%"  club- you know, those nasty millionaires that the 99% Occupy Wall Street types love to vilify. So here's my proposition, why don't the Occupy Wall Street crowd (who obviously have nothing better to do), go 'occupy' the MLB, NFL, NBA, the owners, and all the players who deserve the disapproval. Go camp out at the stadiums and leave our parks alone.