What troubles me is that she will get away with this. No one from her side of the aisle will challenge her thought. It wouldn't surprise me if her views are widely held. I admire her chutzpah for putting it to words, better to fight a known enemy than the snake hidden in the grass.

wonder how much she is paid....

It wouldn't surprise me if her views are widely held.

In Michigan? Not a single voter who works in a factory for the Big Three will think to themselves, "Hey! I am overpaid!"

I'm sure that her views are widely held in boardrooms, but we haven't gotten to the point of "one dollar, one vote" just yet. Local Dems should have no trouble playing this one, even if they pay more than 8 bucks for a haircut.

"The JCI operation in Holland [MI] was originally Prince Corp., founded by Betsy DeVos' father, Edgar Prince, and sold by the family in 1996 for $1.35 billion."

By the way, did Edgar have any other children?

"Erik is the son of the late Edgar Prince. Erik was also one of the first of the Family Research Council's college interns."
http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/frc/frc-msn.9504.txt

What's Eric doing now?

"Former SEAL Eric Prince used his Michigan-based family fortune to fund the creation of Blackwater, and his contacts within the elite SEAL community of southeastern Virginia to staff it. The need for specialized training grew following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001."
Posted by jemmo at April 30, 2004 03:07 PM

...wow, oligarchies all around us!

--ventura county, ca

Great work, jemmo!

The problem is that there are highly educated and highly skilled workers in other countries who will do the same or better job for $5000 a year. Or less.

We're in for a very long period where US wages and benefits are flat to trending down.

It's not a Republican vs. Democrat thing, it's just global economics. Businesses will get labor, often their most costly expense, wherever they can find folks who are willing to do the work for the least amount of compensation.

That's just reality. Nothing Bush or Kerry can do about it.

The American people can, and should, rein in these greedy bastards, who exploit our generousity on incentives and tax breaks, and then start making another deal behind our backs.

Either the people who run these businesses are American citizens, or they are mutlinational corporatists. IF they are Americans, they will 'live' in the community they inhabit. If they are multinationalists, then we should tax the hell out of them and be rid of them. Someone in this country will fill the breech, and we can save our own economy. Any business that isn't going to abide by that deserves no quarter.

The DeVos clan is a particularly charming example of the "let them eat cake school." It's impossible to argue with them because they know they are on the side of the righteous. Richard DeVos, Black Betty's husband, is on record as opposing food aid for the poor, working or not, because (approximate quote) "people should earn" basic necessities.

The DeVoses founded Amway along with the Van Andels, another set of charmers. Neither clan has ever admitted that at heart they are white collar criminals in the great American "bilk the little guy" tradition. It is easier for them to rationalize their selfishness since they belong to a 18th century church (Christian Reformed Church in America) that seems to equate economic success with God's approval and believes in divine right for the (white) wealthy. They have contributed greatly to West Michigan institutions of which they approve, although they keep a close eye on their "gifts" to be sure the recipient doesn't stray from the party line.

Pictures of many Devoses indicate that missing meals has not been a problem for them for a while. Along with manual labor, poverty-level wages and inadequate public services (Black Betty is a leading proponent of dismantling public education and the social safety net), hunger is only for the little people. The only little things about the DeVoses are their consciences and their hearts.

Workers make too much? Geez, I know families who working two or more jobs to put food on the table, clothes on their back, a car on the road, and an educational experience for their children so that they may have it better. It is so easy to tell others what they should have when you got everything and do not have to worry about a thing. A "pox" on the rich who are just plain selfish, greedy, and evil hearted.

furlo in michigan