On Tuesday, November 6, the voters spoke loud and clear, awarding Barack Obama with a second four-year term.  They obviously thought they were going to get something beneficial out of this, though what that might be is a political, economic, and historical mystery of the first order.

What they have gotten since then, and as a direct result of the august Obama's ascension, is a plunging market, closing businesses, unemployment, and the possibility of a new recession.

And that's just the beginning.

We at AT are delighted to witness this example of democracy in action, and to celebrate it we are inaugurating this occasional new blog department, which will appear every time a striking instance of well-earned electoral consequences occurs. We dedicate it to the millions who woke up on November 7th with the thought, "What the hell did I just do?"

Here's hoping that the last installment is not typed out as Iran's "Fist of Allah" ICBMs are arcing across the Atlantic.

Today's news brings word that more hospitality industry jobs are being destroyed or downsized. WPTV:

 A day after Barack Obama earned a second term in the White House, Papa John's founder and CEO John Schnatter said the president's signature health-care reform law would increase his business costs and possibly result in employees' hours being cut.

Schnatter, a part-time Naples resident, made the comments Wednesday night inside a small auditorium at Edison State College's Collier County campus. In August, he made national headlines after telling shareholders the Affordable Care Act - commonly known as Obamacare - would result in a 10- to 14-cent increase for customers buying a pizza.

"I got in a bunch of trouble for this," he told the students. "That's what you do, is you pass on costs. Unfortunately, I don't think people know what they're going to pay for this." (snip)

Under the Affordable Care Act, full-time employees - those working 30 hours or more per week - would have to be provided with insurance at companies with more than 50 workers. Schnatter said it was likely that some franchise owners would reduce employees' hours in order to avoid having to cover them.

"That's probably what's going to happen," he said. "It's common sense. That's what I call lose-lose."

Those businesses delivering the bad news are feeling some heat (as if that would change the fundamental economics at work). Twtichy:

Among the commandments of life under the Obama administration: thou shalt not speak ill of Obamacare. Papa John's CEO John Schnatter was hammered with Twitter abuse after informing shareholders and franchisees in August that implementing Obamacare would necessarily increase costs of running the business. Applebee's is under the gun today after Zane Tankel, a franchisee whose company runs 40 New York-area restaurants, told Fox Business Network that a hiring freeze might be in the works.

Rosslyn Smith comments:

A lot of those trendy urban liberals work in hospitality businesses or are the nerds at the IT temp firms.    The notices cutting them back to 30 hours a week are already going out.  That is a brutal number. It almost eliminates disposable income for most people but it is close to impossible to work two 30 hour/week jobs-even if the contracts let you and many do not.  

Those who are not effected job wise are not going to be happy for another reason.  The trendy urban consumers who expect to find 200 imported and artisanal cheeses and 150 types of breads and crackers to complement the 300 bottle wine cave aren't going like what happens in the next few years to their options for medical care.  It is going to be like telling the residents of Marin County they have no choice but to live next to a HUD complex because it's only fair. Many won't have the money to pay outside the system. Those that do are still not going to like the waiting lists for appointments as specialists retire and will not be replaced.

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. -- H.L. Mencken