CEO of International Corporation Sends Romney Fundraising Pitch to His Employees

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There’s been plenty of news lately about big companies urging their employees to vote in the 2012 presidential election and, in some cases, nudging those employees to vote for the GOP ticket. Executives at Westgate Resorts, ASG Software Solutions, and a handful of other businesses have even warned that an Obama vote could lead to layoffs. Romney himself, as In These Times reported, told business owners during a June conference call to “make it very clear to your employees what you believe is in the best interest of your enterprise and therefore their job.”

Another CEO has joined the pro-Romney push. Last week, Brooks Smith, the CEO of Interactive Communications (also known as Incomm), the country’s leading purveyor of prepaid gift cards and debit cards, forwarded a Romney campaign fundraising email to all of his employees. The email, ostensibly written by Romney, slams President Obama for irresponsibly running up the nation’s debt and deficits. “We need to get serious about this before it’s too late,” the email says. “My plan for deficit reduction cuts and caps federal spending, balances the budget, and reduces our nation’s debt—to put America on a path to prosperity.”

A former Incomm employee forwarded Smith’s message to Mother Jones, after receiving it from a current employee.

Incomm’s website says it did nearly $10 billion in sales in 2009, and has one billion customers each week. Incomm’s customers include Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and 7-Eleven.

Asked about the Romney email Smith circulated to his employees, an Incomm spokeswoman wrote in a statement that the CEO “neither shared any personal views nor suggested the employees take any specific action.” She went on: “However, Mr. Smith feels the information he shares is important information for individuals to have when choosing their candidates. Of course, whom they vote for is their decision alone.”

Here’s the email from Smith:

 

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

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Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

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AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

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