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Very good question, and like most of the good questions, I don't have a good answer to it. My concern is that any form of power can be abused. When corporations get too powerful, one gets anticompetitive behavior. I like what Elliot Spitzer is trying to do. His view is that some regulation keeps markets competitive. He is trying to change corporate culture so that honest businessman can be honest without penalty. I think we all suffer when corporations can get away with fraud.

I din't answer your question, because your question is actually much bigger than the part I've answered. But we have to start somewhere.

I like what Elliot Spitzer is trying to do

Boost his political career??? He just announced he's running for Gov of NY.

He's like a bull in a China shop running from industry to industry acting as if he was elected to clean up Wall Street.

He's a "white" Jesse Jackson extorting business after business.

This is very telling, you are a liberal, no offense.

I've a couple questions for you....

Where would you rank ex-Pres. Bill Clinton...in a list of the last 20 Presidents?

How would you describe Bill Clinton to your son's?

TIA-

I live half the year in China. The party leader in the town where I live has said more than once, a company first needs to make a profit. Profit in the U.S. is a dirty word as I understand the liberal persuasion.

Funny, another communist, Karl Marx, had the answer to your question. When the workers are so abused, they will rise up and overtake the ruling class. Funny thing happened in the U.S. though, we figured that out.

As to the regulation you speak of, it is way overdone in this country. It is driving companies out of the U.S. and to places like China where they are welcome. And make no mistake, they do not go there to polute or abuse workers. The foreign invested factories in China are as clean, modern and safe as any in the U.S. But, they do it without agencies like OSHA piling on a mountain of paperwork regulations.

I bet you also think corporate taxation is good. But, you have not figured out that all that tax just goes into the cost of the goods and services that you pay for. In reality, you and I pay the tax. The company just collects it for the government. Companies don't pay taxes, only people pay taxes.

"My concern is that any form of power can be abused. When corporations get too powerful, one gets anticompetitive behavior."

Compared to the past, there IS no anticompetitive behavior these days. Yes power can be abused and in fact you can rest assured it always will be abused, it is human nature.

Your children's ages say that you are young. The young are generally always idealistic and that is a good thing. Experience, age and wisdom, however, teach you that that idealism is largely but not completely misplaced and unachievable That is why each generation achieves only a little of what the younger generation thinks it can and age turns you conservative.

Social crusaders only come to frutition if there is popular support for their cause which is why PETA and the envirowackos have gone nowhere. When a problem actually exists, there will be popular support. If there is no popular support, it really isn't a problem.

Hi Roger, welcome to FR. You may be the first liberal to come here and actually engage in civil debate and stick around to respond.

I detect the possibility that you are a 'seeker' and if you hear things that make sense, you may become a believer. I hope we can all provide you with our opinions and answers in a way that will allow you to find a comfort zone of truth that you apparently seek. Regarding your post where you stated "When corporations get too powerful, one gets anticompetitive behavior.", I have a few questions in return;

-Are you equally concerned about abuse of power among unions, charities, universities, school boards, local government, main stream media organizations, etc.
-If yes, do you feel that liberal individuals or liberal media give equal attention and fervor towards those organizations?
-Can you please give specific examples of corporate abuse and anti-competitive behavior so we can understand what you are concerned about?

Conservatives also work as employees, managers, execs, owners. We dislike abuse and corruption in business. We like competition. So these concerns you have may ring hollow to us unless they are even handed and with specific examples.

Thanks in advance for the reply.

I like what Elliot Spitzer is trying to do. His view is that some regulation keeps markets competitive.

I agree. But the flip side is that some regulations are designed specifically to eliminate competition and reward political allies. Often it can be difficult to tell which is which. One quick test you can use with a high degree of confidence is when the stated intent of the regulation to "protect" the children, elderly or the "disadvantaged" and opponents are deemed greedy, insensitive and heartless --- beware. When I see seasoned and ambitious career politicans like Spitzer bleeding those compassion lines, my BS detector pegs in the red zone.