Edwards: Corporate greed is destroying this country

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Looking like the company owner on a tour of the factory floor, John Edwards stood Monday evening on a chair at the United Rubber Worker's East Des Moines office. For about 30 seconds before speaking he simply stood, head back, smiling, relishing the cheers and chants of "Go Johnny, go" from the more than 100 steel workers who planned on spending the remaining few days leading up to the Iowa caucuses working the phone lines to convince as many Iowans as they can to support the former North Carolina Senator.

But once he started speaking, Edwards sounded more like a union organizer than management. "I have to tell you I've never had so much fun in my life," said Edwards, in jeans and a buttoned blue blazer over a blue Oxford shirt that was open at the collar. "It is time for some truth telling, and the truth is that corporate greed is destroying this country. I believe that we have a responsibility to stand up for the sacrifice and the hard work of those generations before us."

This is Edwards' message to caucus-goers distilled. There is no talk of foreign policy. No mention of the war in Iraq. Nothing on Pakistan and the assassination of Benazir Bhutto or illegal immigration. He hardly even mentions health care or education. Edwards' final message is simple: "to make absolutely certain that our kids have a better life than we had. That's what this is all about, at the end of the day, to live up to our responsibility, to live up to what our folks did for us," Edwards said ...

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1699399,00.html

[Ban Hammer 13,394]

he's trying to be as boring as al bore.

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

The guy made a fortune on class-action lawsuits. That's all I need to know about him.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Amazing how you can become a "man of the people" simply by unbuttoning your shirt collar.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Amazing how you can become a "man of the people" simply by unbuttoning your shirt collar.

And in Dubya's case, by chopping wood whenever there's a camera around.

That said, I'm glad Edwards is carrying this message. Someone needs to.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Amazing how you can become a "man of the people" simply by unbuttoning your shirt collar.

And in Dubya's case, by chopping wood whenever there's a camera around.

That said, I'm glad Edwards is carrying this message. Someone needs to.

If he's the right person to carry it of course - I don't really know enough about the guy to say one way or the other. But you have to admit that the message would look pretty silly coming from say, Donald Trump.

Dunno what it is about W. Its like having Captain James T. Kirk running the show...

Edited January 3, 2008 by Number 6

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Amazing how you can become a "man of the people" simply by unbuttoning your shirt collar.

And in Dubya's case, by chopping wood whenever there's a camera around.

That said, I'm glad Edwards is carrying this message. Someone needs to.

If he's the right person to carry it of course - I don't really know enough about the guy to say one way or the other. But you have to admit that the message would look pretty silly coming from say, Donald Trump.

With the right kind of spin, it would sound fine from him. He, too, is from a "humble" background. He's a 2nd generation American out of the Queens. Who better to understand and appreciate the American dream, and, better yet, to recognize the threats being posed to it?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Anything is preferable to yet another dynastic, imperial family.

[Donna A 4]

as a middle class auto worker john edwards sounds pretty good. after all corporate greed is bleeding our companies dry. as a delphi worker who just took a $14.00 an hour cut so the ceo and chairman could get 8.3 million dollar bonus to take us out of bankruptsy. where the ###### do they get off making more then the president of the united states. this doesnt include the 3 million dollar signing bonus he got just to file the bankrupsty. all the upper management got tons and tons of dollars in bonus's and stock options during the bankruptsy and they were the ones who mismanaged the whole company. they had the accountants cooking the books and lieing to the stock holders and everyone one of them got off the charges free.

oh yeah...corporate greed is a real thing and it needs to stop but is john edwards strong enought to do it...doubtful.

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

as a middle class auto worker john edwards sounds pretty good. after all corporate greed is bleeding our companies dry. as a delphi worker who just took a $14.00 an hour cut so the ceo and chairman could get 8.3 million dollar bonus to take us out of bankruptsy. where the ###### do they get off making more then the president of the united states. this doesnt include the 3 million dollar signing bonus he got just to file the bankrupsty. all the upper management got tons and tons of dollars in bonus's and stock options during the bankruptsy and they were the ones who mismanaged the whole company. they had the accountants cooking the books and lieing to the stock holders and everyone one of them got off the charges free.

oh yeah...corporate greed is a real thing and it needs to stop but is john edwards strong enought to do it...doubtful.

You're right on. The main problem I see is how he would fix it. Seriously, what power does the president have over publicly held corporations?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Greater regulations?

In the 80's my dad worked for a company for about 15 years, before it was bought out by Lord Hanson - who promptly gutted it. With the net result being that the company pension fund was liquidated. That IMO was criminal.

Then you have the Enron's and Worldcom. That should never have been allowed to happen.

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

Greater regulations?

In the 80's my dad worked for a company for about 15 years, before it was bought out by Lord Hanson - who promptly gutted it. With the net result being that the company pension fund was liquidated. That IMO was criminal.

Then you have the Enron's and Worldcom. That should never have been allowed to happen.

Yes, but Enron and Worldcom WERE illegal. They committed fraud and Ken Lay killed himself to avoid prosecution.

My point is that the president has absolutely no say over the business transactions of a publicly-held company, and he should not, as that would be overstepping executive power. Should the judicial branch prosecute more sternly yes, but the key word is judicial.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Greater regulations?

In the 80's my dad worked for a company for about 15 years, before it was bought out by Lord Hanson - who promptly gutted it. With the net result being that the company pension fund was liquidated. That IMO was criminal.

Then you have the Enron's and Worldcom. That should never have been allowed to happen.

Yes, but Enron and Worldcom WERE illegal. They committed fraud and Ken Lay killed himself to avoid prosecution.

My point is that the president has absolutely no say over the business transactions of a publicly-held company, and he should not, as that would be overstepping executive power. Should the judicial branch prosecute more sternly yes, but the key word is judicial.

Well its not like the president needs to stand over the company executives with a whip or anything like that. Plenty of industries self-regulate via independently controlled bodies.

Enron and Worldcom were illegal, but it should simply not have been possible for fraud to take place on that scale. Clearly the ball was dropped at several levels and everyone paid the price as a result.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Executive compensation needs to be re-attached to company performance. If a company is run so poorly that it needs to seek bancruptcy protection, the execs of such company ought not to receive a dime worth a bonus. Period. Executive parachutes and retirement packages belong just as much - if not more so - on the chopping block as rank-and-file wages and benefits when companies hit hard times. After all, the top brass defends their huge comp packages with the burden of running these companies. They need to take real responsibility for their performance. It's just that simple.

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

Executive compensation needs to be re-attached to company performance. If a company is run so poorly that it needs to seek bancruptcy protection, the execs of such company ought not to receive a dime worth a bonus. Period. Executive parachutes and retirement packages belong just as much - if not more so - on the chopping block as rank-and-file wages and benefits when companies hit hard times. After all, the top brass defends their huge comp packages with the burden of running these companies. They need to take real responsibility for their performance. It's just that simple.

I agree with every thing you just said.