Home Depot Founder Speaks To Obama Through Op-ed

[ConHog]

Because he helped start one of the most successful businesses in recent memory.

And he is saying that it would not be possible to do so under today's anti-business federal climate.

He's a fucking asshole, but I only thing that cuz of the way he handled losing his coach a few years back.

Which coach?

Bobby Petrino. And don't go all crazy, I was just busting balls.

 

[RadiomanATL]

He's a fucking asshole, but I only thing that cuz of the way he handled losing his coach a few years back.

Which coach?

Bobby Petrino. And don't go all crazy, I was just busting balls.

I don't think Ken had anything to do with Petrino. Although I could be wrong.

 

[ConHog]

Which coach?

Bobby Petrino. And don't go all crazy, I was just busting balls.

I don't think Ken had anything to do with Petrino. Although I could be wrong.

I might be thinking of someone else, Isn't this the same guy who owns the Falcons?

 

[RadiomanATL]

Bobby Petrino. And don't go all crazy, I was just busting balls.

I don't think Ken had anything to do with Petrino. Although I could be wrong.

I might be thinking of someone else, Isn't this the same guy who owns the Falcons?

Different Home Depot guy. You're thinking of Arthur Blank.

 

[ConHog]

I don't think Ken had anything to do with Petrino. Although I could be wrong.

I might be thinking of someone else, Isn't this the same guy who owns the Falcons?

Different Home Depot guy. You're thinking of Arthur Blank.

Ah, you are correct. I had my names mixed up.

 

[thereisnospoon]

Seems he tried to do so in person, didn't get far:

Ken Langone: Stop Bashing Business, Mr. President - WSJ.com

* OPINION
* OCTOBER 15, 2010

Stop Bashing Business, Mr. President
If we tried to start The Home Depot today, it's a stone cold certainty that it would never have gotten off the ground.


By KEN LANGONE

Although I was glad that you answered a question of mine at the Sept. 20 town-hall meeting you hosted in Washington, D.C., Mr. President, I must say that the event seemed more like a lecture than a dialogue. For more than two years the country has listened to your sharp rhetoric about how American businesses are short-changing workers, fleecing customers, cheating borrowers, and generally "driving the economy into a ditch," to borrow your oft-repeated phrase.

My question to you was why, during a time when investment and dynamism are so critical to our country, was it necessary to vilify the very people who deliver that growth? Instead of offering a straight answer, you informed me that I was part of a "reckless" group that had made "bad decisions" and now required your guidance, if only I'd stop "resisting" it.

I'm sure that kind of argument draws cheers from the partisan faithful. But to my ears it sounded patronizing. Of course, one of the chief conceits of centralized economic planning is that the planners know better than everybody else...

Like Whole Foods, it must be time to BOYCOTT Home Depot, Comrades!

I applaud this idea...my thought is, the fewer big box stores we patronize, the better.

Shop small, local businesses folks.

Oh please. There's room for everyone.
Not only is your idea( shopping local only) idiotic, it also flies in the face of Obama's insitence on being "green".
Without one stop shopping, we would have to burn more fuel making stop after stop to pick up the things we need to purchase.
Additionally, competiton is good. However competiton and innoivation is resisted by those who fail to realize changes and progress.
So instead of insiting the imporvement of the entities of interest to them, they plead the case of "let's get those evil corprations"..Compare this to those individuals who think we should buy American cars only to save GM, Ford and what's left of Chrysler.
Why should we? I say if one is facing competition, do YOUR job better. If your competition is kicking your ass then find a way to kick theirs. None of this whining about protectionist policies.
One may say, "the big box stores have an unfair advantage"..Oh really?...That's "in the small box" thinking. And THAT is the reason why some businesses and a whole bunch of people who are business reality illiterates are wallowing in their own misery while screaming "no fair!".

 

[RadiomanATL]

I might be thinking of someone else, Isn't this the same guy who owns the Falcons?

Different Home Depot guy. You're thinking of Arthur Blank.

Ah, you are correct. I had my names mixed up.

But I like Blank for what he has done for the Falcons.

 

[Sallow]

Six vs. half a dozen.


Rich includes the 49% of Americans who pay Federal income tax.

What a bunch of crap, it will never cease to amaze me how stupid liberals really are, no justification?!?!?! Did you go to any school? Have you opened a history book on lets say the last 250 years? This great country that protects your dumb ass was founded on that simple principle......

And making 250K in my book..for the most part..is pretty rich. I make half that amount, in NYC..and am quite comfortable. I have a manhattan co-op..travel around the world and dine at expensive establishments.

By your definition alone, you're selfish. Are you not a liberal? Do liberals make a $125K, live in uptown Manhattan co-op's, travel the world and dine at exclusive restaurants? Apparently you're single to, try funding your lifestyle and a family of 5 (3 kids), save for retirement, collage and see if $125K still meets your needs.....

When you wake up from your fantasy and deal with what most American families do, try telling me then that $250K belongs in the same tax bracket with Buffett, et al....

Buffett, Gates, Jobs, etc.... are out of touch with the American family....I know Warren is an extremely brilliant financier, many kudos, but his statement relating to his secretary taxes is pure hyperbole, his corporations pay for most if not all of his expenses, the rest of us pay for our own.....

Aside from the personal attacks your underlying point is what?

 

[thereisnospoon]

O ya. Support big businesses run by greedy rich assholes with no sense of patriotism.

Lemme sign right up for that.

What people like you refuse to ackowledge is when government creates policy and law that harms business, compnaies will vote with their feet and relocate to a friendlier place to conduct operations.
You see the result. Jobs being moved out of the US. What you refuse to see is why those companies decided to relocate.
Al you see is "those greedy bastards just want to screw American workers"..Ok fine.
If you wish to believe that business exists for the sole purpose of abusing workers, go right ahead. You'll find yourself left out of the loop.

 

[thereisnospoon]

O ya. Support big businesses run by greedy rich assholes with no sense of patriotism.

Lemme sign right up for that.

What an idiot.

Do you believe Madalying when she tells you she's a Republican?

she isn't...She is trying her hand at being Libertarian. However she has no clue what she is doing.

 

[thereisnospoon]

Am I the only one amused by a succession of conservatives nodding their heads in agreement to a WSJ editorial pining for the low taxes and lax regulatory environment of the Carter years? There's got to be somebody else out there getting a kick out of this.

Who said anything even remotely resembling your claim?
And since you oppose low taxes, then you must favor "hig" taxes.
The United States has one of the highest coprate taxes in the industrialized world. For what purpose must business pay confiscatory taxes?...

 

[jeffrockit]

Seems he tried to do so in person, didn't get far:

Ken Langone: Stop Bashing Business, Mr. President - WSJ.com

* OPINION
* OCTOBER 15, 2010

Stop Bashing Business, Mr. President
If we tried to start The Home Depot today, it's a stone cold certainty that it would never have gotten off the ground.


By KEN LANGONE

Although I was glad that you answered a question of mine at the Sept. 20 town-hall meeting you hosted in Washington, D.C., Mr. President, I must say that the event seemed more like a lecture than a dialogue. For more than two years the country has listened to your sharp rhetoric about how American businesses are short-changing workers, fleecing customers, cheating borrowers, and generally "driving the economy into a ditch," to borrow your oft-repeated phrase.

My question to you was why, during a time when investment and dynamism are so critical to our country, was it necessary to vilify the very people who deliver that growth? Instead of offering a straight answer, you informed me that I was part of a "reckless" group that had made "bad decisions" and now required your guidance, if only I'd stop "resisting" it.

I'm sure that kind of argument draws cheers from the partisan faithful. But to my ears it sounded patronizing. Of course, one of the chief conceits of centralized economic planning is that the planners know better than everybody else...

Like Whole Foods, it must be time to BOYCOTT Home Depot, Comrades!

I applaud this idea...my thought is, the fewer big box stores we patronize, the better.

Shop small, local businesses folks.

Yeah cause they supply many more jobs than the "big box stores". That will really help the unemployment numbers.

 

[Micky G. Jagger]

A Vote for the Republicans is a Vote Against America. Vote Democratic - SAVE AMERICA!

 

[Si modo]

A Vote for the Republicans is a Vote Against America. Vote Democratic - SAVE AMERICA!

Hey spammer, that's not too original.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkWAhuXtalw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkWAhuXtalw[/ame]

It's funny when the hacks think they are being original.

 

[Micky G. Jagger]

For more than two years the country has listened to your sharp rhetoric about how American businesses are short-changing workers.

According to Google, the President has never actually said American businesses are short-changing workers.

 

[Micky G. Jagger]

My question to you was why, during a time when investment and dynamism are so critical to our country, was it necessary to vilify the very people who deliver that growth?

--Ken Langone

According to Google, the President has never actually vilified people who deliver investment and dynamism.

 

[Micky G. Jagger]

You informed me that I was part of a "reckless" group that had made "bad decisions" and now required your guidance, if only I'd stop "resisting" it.

--Ken Langone

You lie.

 

[thereisnospoon]

My question to you was why, during a time when investment and dynamism are so critical to our country, was it necessary to vilify the very people who deliver that growth?

--Ken Langone

According to Google, the President has never actually vilified people who deliver investment and dynamism.

"According to google"......