CEO Asks Employees To Help Company ‘And Yourself’ By Donating $2,500 To Romney

THINK PROGRESS

A growing number of CEOs are pressuring their employees to vote for Mitt Romney, whose tax cut plan could offer millionaires an $87,000 tax break. Now, MSNBC’s Up with Chris Hayes, has uncovered at least one executive who called on his employees to donate up to $2,500 to the GOP presidential candidate’s campaign.
The show reported last week that Arthur Allen of ASG Software Solutions emailed his employees that they’d only have themselves to blame if they lose their jobs after Obama wins. But Allen sent another email on the eve of the Republican convention soliciting donations for the former Massachusetts governor:

To all ASG domestic employees,
This coming Monday, Mitt Romney will be officially nominated as the Republican Presidential candidate. I am encouraging everyone to go to the Romney for President web site and contribute as much as you can to his campaign for President, up to the maximum of $2500.00 per person. I am also encouraging you to contact all of your friends and relatives and ask them to support Romney and to go to the polls and vote on election day.
ASG, like many companies, is still struggling, even after 4 years. You probably heard that we tripped a bank leverage covenant on June 30th, and now must go through yet another round of unfavorable treatment by our lenders. Many of our domestic employees are still on the 4 day work week. Many of our customers are waiting until they see the results of the election before beginning to invest again. We need to elect a fiscally conservative President and Vice-President and stop this ridiculous government spending. I believe that Romney and Ryan can put us back on the path to sanity, but even then it is not going to be painless for our country and ASG.
Please help ASG and yourself by contributing to the Romney/Ryan campaign.
Mr. Allen

Romney had called on employers to “make it very clear” how they feel about the candidates. During a call with the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) first discovered by In These Times, Romney told business owners to “pass… along to your employees” how their jobs might be affected by who wins in November.
After heeding Romney’s advise Allen sent another email asking employees to defer “some or all” of their salary “until December, in order to help the company make a $15 million interest payment.”