Didn't George Washington help push the whole "taxation without representation" thingy? Thomas Jefferson? The Kennedy's have never done anything for the common guy.
C'mon halfbreed, you should know the difference. Don't you know that money taken from greedy corporations by trial lawyers is acceptable? The money made by people who run those greedy corporations is evil.
Nothing outrageous about getting a few million bucks out of huge companies that negligently kill and maim people. If you think regular people are worth anything, I guess.
Yeah...you make it sound as if they were paying him instead of losing to him in court for injuring people. Cool.
I'm actually okay with it. Corporations should be held responsible when they do wrong. To really fix things, we should throw managers in jail who knowingly ignore major safety risks. But I also know that the same evil corporations make a huge difference by giving some of the best wages for millions of American families.
None... but Washington and the Dems did say this... I have no other view than to promote the public good, and am unambitious of honors not founded in the approbation of my Country. --George Washington It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a Free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even of his personal services to the defense of it. --George Washington Private charities as well as contributions to public purposes in proportion to everyone's circumstances are certainly among the duties we owe to society. --Thomas Jefferson This world abounds indeed with misery; to lighten its burthen, we must divide it with one another. --Thomas Jefferson Among the first of [nature's] laws, is that which bids us to succor those in distress. --Thomas Jefferson Another means of silently lessening the inequality of property is to exempt all from taxation below a certain point, and to tax the higher portions of property in geometrical progression as they rise. --Thomas Jefferson It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes. --Andrew Jackson I am one of those who do not believe that a national debt is a national blessing, but rather a curse to a republic; inasmuch as it is calculated to raise around the administration a moneyed aristocracy dangerous to the liberties of the country. --Andrew Jackson It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach. --FDR The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little. --FDR We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we now know that it is bad economics. --FDR I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people. --FDR We stand at the edge of a New Frontier—the frontier of unfulfilled hopes and dreams. It will deal with unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus. --JFK We are going to assemble the best thought and broadest knowledge from all over the world to find these answers. I intend to establish working groups to prepare a series of conferences and meetings—on the cities, on natural beauty, on the quality of education, and on other emerging challenges. From these studies, we will begin to set our course toward the Great Society. --LBJ I think we can do better. --RFK For the fortunate among us, there is the temptation to follow the easy and familiar paths of personal ambition and financial success so grandly spread before those who enjoy the privilege of education. But that is not the road history has marked out for us. Like it or not, we live in times of danger and uncertainty. But they are also more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history. All of us will ultimately be judged and as the years pass we will surely judge ourselves, on the effort we have contributed to building a new world society and the extent to which our ideals and goals have shaped that effort. --RFK
rimrocker, you forgot the most successful class and race warrior of them all: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2003/0309.mendacity-index.html
When has he ever claimed to be part of the lower-class? If you believe him hypocritical, you've missed the entire point of his message. Fake, maybe. Hypocritical? Absolutely not. He completely accepts that he's made a ton of money and is very successful. His message is that he believes the government can and should do more to give others the opportunity to experience the success he had.
When the guy's entire platform and message has revolved around combatting the alleged "Two Americas" problem, if you can't see the hypocrisy in spending his money on a ridiculously huge house, then frankly (to steal a favorite lib-hippie quote), you haven't been paying attention.
he's not taking money from poor people. the platform isn't give your money to the poor, the platform is better treatment and support of the poor by the government. his personal wealth has nothing to do with that. he didn't use poor tax payer money to get rich.
Tell me about it: the Peace Corps, the Special Olympics and the Civil Rights Movement are all steaming piles of elitist donkey crap.
Edwards doesn't claim being rich is bad or that the rich shouldn't spend their money. If you believe he did, you've missed the entire message. Not particularly surprising, though. He's committed plenty of time and money to poverty issues - he founded a freaking poverty research center that he's headed for the last three years. If you believe people can only speak for the poor if they give away every dime they have, you're delusional, or willfully ignorant.
Take from the have and give to the have nots. He was a have not, he took from the haves. He now want to replicate his success with other have nots. I don't see the hypocracy in his stance.
That house isn't really all that big. Look at the picture, most of the sq ft comes from his barn. The house itself is 10,000 sq ft, which while big, isn't really ridiculous for a big time lawyer and presidential candidate.
Guys like this extravagantly use our resources for themselves and consistently champion environmental causes that would restrict access to the use of the same resources for others. It's total hypocrisy.
From what I understand, Edwards' house is Energy Saver certified with all kinds of eco-friendly stuff built in, including solar power for heating the space and water.
Everyone seriously must admit, though, that nobody needs 28,000 square feet of house. That is overkill...unless you have about 27 children.
