Saturday, September 15, 2012

Operation “Atlas Shrugged”


By Kevin Price

In addition to hosting the Price of Business radio show and managing US Daily Review, I own a media and marketing company that is doing its part to keep this economy afloat.  Recently, because of the implications of the political races and the concerns of an onslaught of new regulations, taxes, and other laws that could follow if Barack Obama is reelected, some clients are now requiring a new term to their agreements – the ability to discontinue the contract, without consequences, if the president is reelected.  I have been in business for decades and I have never seen anything like this. On the other hand, I have never seen anyone like Barack Obama nor have I seen such a war on the economy being waged by a president on his people.  Under Obama, the United States has the highest tax rates, the worst regulatory environment, and hostile liability situation of any industrialized country in the world.

My response to this new request is typical of most people who are involved in selling, “wait a minute, aren’t you going to have to be in business regardless of who is elected?” Most people who want such a clause are ready to answer and the typical response is, “not necessarily. If Obama wins, I will not be able to afford to stay in business.” These people are serious; this is the new reality facing the country right around the corner.
When I think of how these business owners are responding to the political economy they live in today, I think of the great novel by Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged. The novel is about businesses and their owners going on strike in response to excessive and even oppressive government taxes and regulations, largely putting the country out of business.  It appears many companies are getting poised to do just that after the elections, as seen in the example of working with our clients above as well as untold number of surveys painting a similar picture. However, would not waiting until Election Day be a great example of doing “too little, too late” (which is how, as they say, wars and battles are lost).  If businesses are planning something like Atlas Shrugged, shouldn’t they do it today in order for it to have an impact in November?

In my own company, I have roughly 1/3rd the people working for me than I had in 2009, when Barack Obama was sworn in as President.  I know this sounds harsh, but I would get rid of those I have left, right now, if I could still stay in business.   I am not quite willing to go all the way on my own “Operation Atlas Shrugged,” but I am willing to make my business as lean as it has been in years in order to make a point to the voters that this situation is bad and only getting worst.

So, attention business owners; you know you will likely have to let go of some (if not many) of your employees if Barack Obama is reelected, so why are you not doing that now when it can still make a difference?  Business owners should vote with their pink slips today in order to have the political environment to rebuild the economy tomorrow.  This will not happen if Barack Obama is reelected.  It is painful to do, I’m sure, but it is better for your employees to let them go temporarily today (after all, the elections are only around 8 weeks away), then having to have to dismiss them permanently as victims of an Obama second term after November.  Vote with your pink slips… do it today. Do it for your employees and the country.
Kevin Price is an author, Host of the Price of Business Radio Show, a syndicated columnist and Publisher/Editor in Chief of US Daily Review.

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Kevin Price
Host, Price of Business on KTEK 1110, PriceofBusiness.com
Home of Bloomberg Radio on morning drive time.
Publisher and Editor in Chief, USDailyReview.com
Frequently found on Strategy Room at FoxNews.com
Syndicated columnist whose articles appear on a variety of media outlets.
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