Ouch!

This won't be acknowledged, whatever.

You do, however, have the patience of Job!

No, I think Rob should pay for it...it's his argument...and apparently HIS responsibility if someone isn't prepared for their own health. (However, MY motto is: YOUR lack of preparation is not MY emergency. And it works both ways too...no 'gray' area.)

in the 1970's, the FTC required US companies in order to settle anti-trust lawsuits, license their patents for free. It is estimated, that under this ruling(s), that over 50 THOUSAND US patents were licensed to any and all comers for free. Xerox was the poster child for this policy, which required Xerox to give up all its patents. This traitorous policy was in large part why the US economy suffered in the 70s. The largest beneficiaries of this policy were not even US companies!!!! Japan raked in. Xerox market share went from 96% marketshare before the ruling to less than 5% in 4 years. Almost all the rest of the marketshare went to Japan. Jobs?????????????????

extreme is your word. I like clear definitions. words have meaning, Rob

yea, let's make EVERYONE pay for that

Hello Boborobdos,

Fair enough. There is a place for law. Corporations should not be allowed to practice cronyism any more than unions. Politicians should be held accountable also. Corporations have money, but so do the unions. The unions also have political organization and many more votes than any corporation. Which do you suppose is likely to exert greater political pressure? Votes and intimidation are weighted in favor of the unions.

Unregulated monopolies? Have no competition? Free markets would deal with that and not all monopolies are bad.

Google search keywords, “justice department fines 2013” returned About 43,100,000 results. A plethora of fines levied against businesses recently.
https://www.google.com/search?noj=1&...
A google search of “Justice department fines business” returns with About 21,200,000 results.

Why the unions good, corporations bad, inclination? Are all big union leaders pure, while the motives of all corporations are by virtue of their object being profit inherently evil? Isn’t the further acquisition of money the union’s object also?
I have no beef with the rank and file, but the leadership is no more pure than the politician that they purchase.
http://dailycaller.com/2013/04/03/union-...

Cronyism is not acceptable regardless of the source.

OSHA is an agency that has served its purpose and exceeded it. It has become another money making enterprise for the gov’t. and a burden to industry.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/stosse...

We grant gov’t too much power and it sells it while it grows enormous and yet many cry “give me more.” There is the true villain, for the gov’t is the only body that can legally use force and we sanction the abuse with our ambivalence.

Respectfully,
O.A.

Accidents are usually covered by auto or property insurance. I’m going to have a major illness any day now? Do you know something we don’t? Just how is Obama going to persuade us how desperately we need our government’s care? Yikes! Lol. I can’t convince you, and you can’t convince me. Start a new thread somewhere else, this is getting to hard to read.

I’m fifty-one, whipper-snapper. ;)

are you assuming mimi has not prepared for disasters? are you assuming that many in here do not do an opportunity cost analysis when looking at their insurance buys? assumptions, Rob

just so mimi

I’m willing to die? What are you babbling about? I pay cash, sweetie. Iv’e paid cash for every office visit I have ever had, every test I have ever been sent for, every x-ray, every scan, and guess what? On average, I never spent more than six -hundred dollars a year to stay healthy. Think of all that lovely money a month that I worked for that I got to keep and invest rather than turn it over to looters like yourself who think I should let society (the real sicky in the room) decide how I should spend what I earn. Grow-up and take care yourself.
The Affordable Health Care is a zeppelin that is going to crash and burn. It relies too heavily on people like me to sign up. Good luck with that. You can’t keep Obama in office forever. I also intend to boycott any business that promotes this nonsense.

the question isn't money or votes. The question is what powers do we give the federal government? If we give govt the power to break up large corps or require they give away their patents for free to their competitors, you will have a huge amount of lobbying. If the fed. govt was limited to 3% of GDP and only enforcing natural rights, there would be no incentive to spend huge amounts of money lobbying Congress. cause vs effect.

This is a good comment. People/ workers do have the right of free association. How do you propose to stop the unions from buying political favors with union dues? The government fines and even breaks up companies when they feel they are too big for their britches. They will not reproach the unions though because they are largely a giant monolithic voting block. Many of the politicians are beholding to them.
Respectfully,
O.A.

well that's a little better than greedy investors grabbing all the profit with both of their hands

http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts/95...

"Union and civil-service rules made it virtually impossible to fire anyone. A six-step disciplinary process provided job protection to anyone with a pulse, regardless of poor performance or bad behavior. Even the time-honored management technique of moving someone up or sideways where he would do less harm didn't work in Detroit: Job descriptions and qualification requirements were so strict it was impossible for management to rearrange the organization chart. I was a manager with virtually no authority over personnel. "

Hello Boborobdos,

Wow!
You sure have made a big entrance!

Consider the notion that this is a site where people are dedicated to the premise that collectivism and communism are taboo. Unions are a form of both.

You are looking for answers, but you do not seem to fully appreciate the benefit and power of the market. Unions and government manipulations (special interest regulations and cronyism) are contrary to market forces. They are thus destined to ultimate failure. The market always wins eventually.

In making the argument that McDonalds should pay more, you are negating the market and their competition. McDonalds must compete for business against other fast food chains. If the wages are raised it will have to come from somewhere. The owners may raise prices if they think it will not adversely impact sales or they may in fact take a hit if they feel the profit is still sufficient. The franchise owner or corporation representative will decide how and where, like it or not. If the wages demanded are beyond the point where the investors/owners feel the return is too small they will close shop. So much for the jobs the workers priced themselves out of.

Likewise, the businesses owners must compete for workers. If there were not enough people willing to work for the wages offered, all like businesses would be forced to raise wages. This is how the wages are set. The market wins. If the wages offered are too low then some other business offering better wages will attract the better workers and prosper while the business offering low wages will suffer and likely fail if enough good workers are not willing to accept the terms. The market works.

If you believe that all fast food restaurants are colluding to set the wages/ prices then you have a lawsuit, if you can prove it.

If prices are raised unnaturally by unions instead of market forces then the poor will suffer the most as those prices adversely impact them to greater degree than the affluent. They need cheap food options. The poor will also have fewer entry level jobs available as fewer workers will move on leaving openings for new trainees, and the management struggling under the greater burden will do all it can to reduce costs by hiring more part time workers or reducing staff through automation and any other way they can conceive of. Additionally anyone contemplating the investment in more of these types of businesses will evaporate once the profit margin is diminished.

If one truly believes that the market will bear higher prices in the face of the other franchises competition, in this country, you are free to start your own business and compete. If you are right you will win and put McDonalds out of business. This is the reality that every fast food chain (for that matter any business) lives within. At any moment if they do not keep their prices and wages in line with the market they risk failure. They price and pay in recognition that at any moment some other competitor new or old may try to squeeze them out.

End part 1.