John Massey -> Mimi Gallandt wrote:
 JM> Mimi Gallandt -> John Massey wrote:
 MG>> John Massey -> All wrote:

 JM>>> --- Thunderbird 2.0.0.19 (Windows/20081209)
 JM>>> (1:123/789.0)

 MG>> Enjoy what, John?

 JM> {at}%#${at}#{at}#$%?computers

hehe, it happens. Good article by the way.

 JM> Sorry,

 JM> This letter has been making its way across the Internet.  I don't know
 JM> if anyone actually wrote this letter to their employees or not.  I hope
 JM> they did ... but it doesn't really matter.  My guess is that there is no
 JM> small amount of businessmen and women out there who are harboring
 JM> exactly these thoughts right now.  Enjoy:


 JM> To All My Valued Employees,

 JM> There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of
 JM> this company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy
 JM> has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the
 JM> good news is this: The economy doesn't pose a threat to your job. What
 JM> does threaten your job however, is the changing political landscape in
 JM> this country.

 JM> However, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help
 JM> you decide what is in your best interests.



 JM>  First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against
 JM> employees, you have to understand that for every business owner there is
 JM> a back story. This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by
 JM> what you see and hear. Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside. You've
 JM> seen my big home at last years Christmas party. I'm sure; all these
 JM> flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life.


 JM> However, what you don't see is the back story.


 JM> I started this company 28 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300
 JM> square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire living apartment was
 JM> converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building
 JM> a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you.

 JM> My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent
 JM> went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a
 JM> defective transmission. I didn't have time to date. Often times, I
 JM> stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and
 JM> partying. In fact, I was married to my business -- hard work,
 JM> discipline, and sacrifice.

 JM> Meanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a
 JM> modest $50K a year and spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy
 JM> cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes.
 JM> Instead of hitting the Nordstrom's for the latest hot fashion item, I
 JM> was trolling through the Goodwill store extracting any clothing item
 JM> that didn't look like it was birthed in the 70's. My friends refinanced
 JM> their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put
 JM> my time, my money, and my life into a business with a vision that
 JM> eventually, some day, I too, will be able to afford these luxuries my
 JM> friends supposedly had.

 JM> So, while you physically arrive at the office at 9am, mentally check in
 JM> at about noon, and then leave at 5pm, I don't. There is no
"off" button
 JM> for me. When you leave the office, you are done and you have a weekend
 JM> all to yourself. I unfortunately do not have the freedom. I eat, and
 JM> breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is
 JM> no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached
 JM> to my hip like a 1 year old special-needs child. You, of course, only
 JM> see the fruits of that garden -- the nice house, the Mercedes, the
 JM> vacations... You never realize the back story and the sacrifices I've made.

 JM> Now, the economy is falling apart and I, the guy that made all the right
 JM> decisions and saved his money, have to bail-out all the people who
 JM> didn't. The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled
 JM> to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for.

 JM> Yes, business ownership has is benefits but the price I've paid is steep
 JM> and not without wounds.

 JM> Unfortunately, the cost of running this business, and employing you, is
 JM> starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me tell
 JM> you why:

 JM> I am being taxed to death and the government thinks I don't pay enough.
 JM> I have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes.
 JM> Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on
 JM> taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess
 JM> what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and
 JM> regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of
 JM> my time. On Oct 15th, I wrote a check to the US Treasury for $288,000
 JM> for quarterly taxes. You know what my "stimulus" check
was? Zero. Nada.
 JM> Zilch.

 JM> The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy
 JM> who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000
 JM> people per year with a flourishing business? Or, the single mother
 JM> sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next
 JM> welfare check? Obviously, government feels the latter is the economic
 JM> stimulus of this country.

 JM> The fact is, if I deducted (Read: Stole) 50% of your paycheck you'd quit
 JM> and you wouldn't work here. I mean, why should you? That's nuts. Who
 JM> wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree which
 JM> is why your job is in jeopardy.

 JM> Here is what many of you don't understand ... to stimulate the economy
 JM> you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly government
 JM> mandated to me that I didn't need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of
 JM> depositing that $288,000 into the Washington black-hole, I would have
 JM> spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic
 JM> growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in
 JM> the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now.

 JM> When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don't
 JM> defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to
 JM> life, do you? Or, do you defibrillate his heart? Business is at the
 JM> heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate
 JM> it, not kill it. Suddenly, the power brokers in Washington believe the
 JM> poor of America are the essential drivers of the American economic
 JM> engine. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of
 JM> change you can keep.

 JM> So where am I going with all this?

 JM> It's quite simple.

 JM> If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, my reaction will be
 JM> swift and simple. I fire you. I fire your co-workers. You can then plead
 JM> with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child's
 JM> future. Frankly, it isn't my problem any more.

 JM> Then, I will close this company down, move to another country, and
 JM> retire. You see, I'm done. I'm done with a country that penalizes the
 JM> productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to
 JM> provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, will be my citizenship.

 JM> If you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the economy; it will
 JM> be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this
 JM> country, steamrolled the constitution, and will have changed its
 JM> landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me sitting on a beach,
 JM> retired, and with no employees to worry about....

 JM> Signed,

 JM> Your boss

 JM> --- Thunderbird 2.0.0.19 (Windows/20081209)
 JM> (1:123/789.0)


-- 
L'Chaim,
Mimi

fcpnmimi(at)cox.net

http://www.myspace.com/fcpnmimi

St. Gregory, 4th century Bishop of Nanianzus, wrote:
"A little jargon is all that is necessary to impose
on the people. The less they comprehend, the more they admire."

--- Thunderbird 2.0.0.19 (Windows/20081209)