Jerry Eichenberger wrote on 03/04/13 at 15:13:21:


Right right right ... and yet you want Obama and Biden to walk ... when you didn't want bush or cheney to ?

And no Clinton changed the capital gains laws so you can flip a house and pay 15% taxes on it. That whole "home ownership society" was bush's idea.

And Jerry - Stop accusing people of doing things they may not be doing. Did I say you did this or that ...

Cool.
Srinath.

Bush OTOH had plenty of experience running things ... into the ground.
Cheney was president though, and he had plenty of experience running things right into his pocket ...

These 2 were crooks, and when they were not, they were utter failures.
Obama is being throttled by the republicons. He's not allowed to run anything past his first 2 years.

Cool.
Srinath.

Jerry Eichenberger wrote on 03/04/13 at 15:59:50:


"what's good for business is good for America."

that's hard for me to swallow, that's also a very interpretive phrase.
I do not despise or hate business people or successful people. I don't I swear I don't

is competition good for business???  I know Telecoms would say no.

paying low labor rates is good for business right? (jobs move overseas)

etc. . .

also the statement seems to imply that Americans should be subservient to businesses and give businesses everything they want, which the rebel in me just makes me want to slap you for even saying that.  

There is as always good ways to do business and bad.
Cheney did nearly all bad.

I dont neccesarily resent success ... but there is a line that separates success cos your ideas or products are worthwhile and people use them, or you're manipulating your own size to be a predator.

Google started out being a innovator and leader. They have since started to scroogle people and evade taxes by going to a double dutch irish sandwich.

Cool.
Srinath.

Nothing wrong with those facts.  I admire him and them.

Jerry Eichenberger wrote on 03/05/13 at 08:30:24:



This little tidbit shouldn't phase you one bit then -

The Wall Street Journal reported in 2001 that a subsidiary of Halliburton Energy Services called Halliburton Products and Services Ltd. (HPS) opened an office in Tehran. The company, HPS, operated on the ninth floor of a new north Tehran tower block. Although HPS was incorporated in the Cayman Islands in 1975 and is "non-American", it shares both the logo and name of Halliburton Energy Services and, according to Dow Jones Newswires, offers services from Halliburton units worldwide through its Tehran office. Such behavior, undertaken while Cheney was CEO of Halliburton, may have violated the Trading with the Enemy Act. A Halliburton spokesman, responding to inquiries from Dow Jones, said "This is not breaking any laws. This is a foreign subsidiary and no U.S. person is involved in this. No U.S. person is facilitating any transaction. We are not performing directly in that country." Later Dave Lesar would book his own flights to the Tehran office through the UK arm of KBR. No legal action has been taken against the company or its officials.[26]

Yes its all about being hardworking and success ...

Read more about it -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halliburton

Cool.
Srinath.

LostArtist wrote on 03/04/13 at 17:59:06:


Good to have some help on this topic LA.
The instant you say something against one of the corporate raiders you get slapped with "The founding fathers were wealthy and good as presidents" ... forgetting that they owned slaves and they were all huge landowners and they used the government to help their wealth. Crony capitalism mixed in with some self preservation with a slice of individualism and religion thrown in.

I actually would think a democracy based on a lottery would work better than an election. It oughta be like jury duty. Your name if its pulled up, you are to work in the task/position you have been made to fill (be it governor, be it senator or president) Once you finish that term, you leave and return to your old life till you're called up to do some other task for the govt. That has to be better than a career politician working his way up the ladder making many "friends" along the way ...

Cool.
Srinath.

Srinath,

this is business in America, using money to get political favors and legislation passed and anything else has been a tradition since U.S. Grant was president. Obama is doing it too I'm sure.

Jerry,

I think the nature of "success" has changed, it used to be you worked hard, did right by your customers and got ahead. now with money being made much much easier via investment rather than actual work, scheming has become integral into "success" it's no longer based on doing the right thing or making the better mousetrap, it's now more about reducing costs rather than innovation. and successful people can be assholes just as easy as the hick down the street so I don't want to blanket praise on all successful people like they all should be lumped together and put up on a pedestal. Also since I wouldn't consider myself successful I feel I am often judged by those who are, this my be a problem I'm imagining in my head, but being 34 and not making 30K a year but still living within my means I often feel like a loser for that.