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January 8, 2003
Quixtar and Politics
By QBlog in Quixtar
A few months ago I went to a Quixtar convention/meeting with my wife in Ft. Worth. It was interesting and I learned much from that experience but there was one particular exchange that stuck in my mind and continues to bounce around.
I was discussing politics with our upline and he mentioned that Quixtar (especially Dexter Yager) is staunchly Republican. He went on to describe how each election the Republican candidate is usually supported both in verbal endorsements and in financial gifts. Whether this is true or not I have no way of knowing. I just know that he mentioned this and I sort of shrugged and figured that every business gets to endorse whatever party it desires. I have no problem with that. As long as it's legal then support whomever you want.
Then he told me that often, during election years, when Dexter appeared at a big Quixtar function, he'd ask everyone to put however much they wanted into an envelope to support the Republican candidate. So, if you wanted to support whatever presidential Republican you'd put some cash in an envelope. Then, he told me that after all the envelopes were collected Dexter would personally ensure that each envelope contained $1,000. Obviously most envelopes wouldn't contain nearly the $1,000 personal contribution limit so the added funds from Dexter would bring that total up to the legal limit.
In a crowd of 3-4,000 this adds up to...well, you do the math. Anyway, this was an anectdote related to me with no evidence or any way to confirm the truth of the story. Personally I doubt it's true because it sounds more like a "Quixtar legend" (which there are many) than an actual truth. But who knows. I just know what I was told. I also don't know if this practice is common throughout the world of politics and even if it's legal. Doesn't seem like it would be legal but it's probably one of those loopholes or something.
My point in relating this is to demonstrate the ethical divide between myself and my upline. While my upline is not representative of everyone in the business he has adopted many of the attitudes of the individuals that are Quixtar. I see this practice as unethical and whether it's Quixtar, Coca-Cola, my church or employer I would frown on this sort of activity with impunity. He thought it was clever and I guess it is but I also think it's wrong. While dishonesty and politics go hand in hand I am not all that thrilled about the idea that something like this may go on or if it did that some in the business would think it a wonderful idea.
Hope you like the new design.
IMHO the purpose of putting cash in the envelopes was not to get around individual $1000 contribution limits but merely another way the Dexter and the big kahunas running the event could pocket even more unreported cash...
Posted by: art | November 22, 2003 8:25 AM