Today's GOP

[JCricket]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

Except, if you understood late 19th and 20th century history, you'd know we've already been down the path the GOP is trying to revisit. For most Americans----it SUCKED. That's why they rebelled against unbridled corporate power in the first place. Ford, Carnegie, Morgan and the likes may have built industry but they were also colossal dicks. Slave driving tyrants. I guess we have to put our kids & grand kids through it to figure it out for the second time.

Dave

In some of my other posts about he "rich earning" their money, carnegie was one of the first examples that came to my mind.
Yep, his business's prospered on the backs of his employees. He then reinvests some of that money to make his business more efficient and profitableFurther he then lowered the employees salary on the grounds that it was his money that made it more efficient so he shouldn't have to pay them for their labor. That is not an exact quote, but I believe the prinicple is dead on to what happenned.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by JCricket

In some of my other posts about he "rich earning" their money, carnegie was one of the first examples that came to my mind.
Yep, his business's prospered on the backs of his employees. He then reinvests some of that money to make his business more efficient and profitableFurther he then lowered the employees salary on the grounds that it was his money that made it more efficient so he shouldn't have to pay them for their labor. That is not an exact quote, but I believe the prinicple is dead on to what happenned.

He would reduce wages to raise funds for expansion, rather than take out loans or dip into his own personal wealth. Actually, this was not an uncommon practice during the Gilded Age. Employees were told that investing in the company was investing in their own futures. (As in;"What's good for the mine, is good for the miner.") Then they were forced to invest, whether they liked it or not. These tyrants have always had interesting ways of legitimizing their abuses. I see no reason to believe businessmen today wouldn't turn to the same crap, if the opportunity were to open up.

Actually, if you think about it...............................

Dave

[BlueStreak]

He also once had in his employ a certain charactor named Henry Clay Frick who believed men such as himself were appointed and "blessed" with wealth by no less than Almighty God himself to rule over the lower classes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Clay_Frick

Dave

[JCricket]

Dave,
Thanks for the clarification - I knew I was close to the intent, but not spot on.
Mark

[piece-itpete]

Originally Posted by JJIII

Don't bother. Nearly all threads turn into Bush is an asshole, Raygun's an asshole, Romney's an asshole, Republicans are assholes, Conservatives are assholes, big business concerns are assholes and furthermore, they are all stupid. The only thread that hasn't gone in that direction is the music thread and even it skirted that territory once. I will say that there are bits of thought and wisdom from both sides of the coin sprinkled between all the assholes. It's just that sometimes it is a smelly job digging them out. Rant over. Carry on.

ROTFLMAO! Dead on.

And look....

Pete

[icenine]

This article is a pretty good description of what is facing the GOP

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,3798871.story

[bobabode]

"Sen. Marco Rubio, a Cuban American Republican from Florida, has described immigration as a "gateway issue" for reaching Latino ears and, ultimately, breaking a Democratic lock on their votes."

By using the term "gateway" you've got to wonder if the loco cubano thinks Mexicans have a drug problem? The term gateway is usually used in the mythical concept that marijuana leads to the use of narcotics and addiction.
Maybe it's an unfortunate choice of terms but it certainly happens a lot in the Republican party these days.


from the LA Times story linked to above.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by icenine

This article is a pretty good description of what is facing the GOP

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,3798871.story

It's kinda of a "chickens coming home to roost" thing. Namely, the GOP has focused their efforts in securing their blue collar southern (and lately midwestern) base by appealing to their base instincts on race, immigration and homosexuality. Now that they've succeeded in making these the most important issues to a lot of folks, some of these people are rising to power wanting to act on these issues. The inmates are starting to take over the asylum, as it were.

On social issues such as abortion, the GOP wants to talk tough to appeal to their base, but doesn't really want to act forcefully on these issues. If they pass the laws they say they want in these areas, they will no longer have the issues to stoke their bases every election season. Their base is too dumb to know they're being played, and the party bosses are too dumb to know that their base actually expects action in these areas, not just red meat rhetoric.

[icenine]

Maybe the future lies with the Ron Paul ( basically the old Taft isolationist wing) faction merging their libertarian instincts with the free enterprise aspects of the rest of the party.

Leave all the negative social distractions on the cutting room floor....
probably where it will go...HAS to go maybe.

[Boreas]

Originally Posted by icenine

Maybe the future lies with the Ron Paul ( basically the old Taft isolationist wing) faction merging their libertarian instincts with the free enterprise aspects of the rest of the party.

Leave all the negative social distractions on the cutting room floor....
probably where it will go...HAS to go maybe.

Leaving them nothing but their negative ideological distractions.

John