@Concerned: That’s pretty much par for the course these days isn’t it? See Scott Walker’s subsidy for a new stadium at the expense of education funding.
The main takeaway for me from the article is the almost endless supply of dollar $ign$. Seems like, if you are U’s kind of vocal, agitating, activist conservative–get in line for a check. Just make sure to get the right buzzwords in your name: liberty, policy institute, news network, etc.
Dollars for “freedom” seems to be the theme here. Is there only one “freedom” for all, or only those that can afford it? Freedoms (plural) are intertwined with rights, and that is what makes a democracy messy-
Read it.
He is a man who has sold his citizenship. He didn’t see any benefit to keeping it when it required that he consider neighbors who couldn’t pay their way. He has embraced the idea that if you can’t buy something, you shouldn’t have it and government shouldn’t let you have it - unless it is really important, but so far, not much is important enough not to have a price tag on it.
Why? Because this gentleman never had to worry a single day in his life about his personal finances. His family has never had to worry a day over the past century about their personal finances. Mr. Uihlein would find Downton Abbey too liberal since Lord Grantham believes in assisting needy villagers and veterans.
It is common to find people born into vast wealth and rolling in vast wealth, to in turn, believe that people need to earn their way through life. They didn’t, but they were raised to believe that they did, or that by paying respect to the family members who had, they had in turn, earned their family’s millions.
So these twisted souls, capable of buying anything they desire, spend their days telling other people that they cannot get free things. Mr. Uihlein works at it - he spends his spare millions for political groups that tell voters they have a right to have nothing, freedom to earn substandard wages, and liberty to worry about how they will make it to payday.
Guys like him believe that going without makes you value what you have. When you are deathly sick, you value life if you recover. When you live in a hobo jungle under a railroad viaduct, you appreciate an 600 square foot condo in Bronzeville.
As long as it doesn’t mean they have to sacrifice or suffer anything, they believe it is good to suffer.
Bottom line - we can’t have a government that is determined to be a last resort for our needy neighbors if we follow men like Uihline who believe that what is needed is to see more of them living like Lot. Worse, guys like Uihline are telling the needy that those who help them as public servants, only serve themselves at their expense.
==Now Uihlein is in the GOP presidential primary spotlight because he and his wife, Elizabeth, donated $2.5 million to the Unintimidated super PAC backing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s White House bid.==
How much did Uline (Uihlein) get in takes credits from Gov. Walker to move his company from Illinois to Wisconsin?
It would have been nice to leave this comment on the Sun times website as well but as RM has already noted today, their website sucks.
A good friend interviewed for an exec position at U-Line — said the corporate culture there was INSANE. Their general counsel is expected to also serve as the family lawyer for the entire family and spends a lot of time on estate planning and tax avoidance for the Uihleins; less time on things like serious HR problems at the company. The wife writes a newsletter to all employees that consists primarily of relatively unhinged ultra-right-wing ranting about taxes and how Democrats want to make all their employees lose their jobs by taxing the Uihleins too much, with occasional “Christian nation” stuff thrown in. Whenever elections are coming up she tells employees how she expects them to vote. HR or legal or management employees who see a problem with this get shown the door. They have a hugely restrictive dress code on what employees can wear (suits for office workers; preppy khakis and polos in the warehouse), with women in particular having to dress modestly and cover knees, shoulders, clavicles, etc. Bare legs (i.e., no nylons) are a fireable offense. Apparently the warehouse jobs are okay, as warehouse work goes, but office employees have super-high turnover because the Uihleins are demanding, fickle, and TOTAL NUTJOBS. Friend said it was the sickest corporate culture they’d ever been exposed to and opted NOT to continue with the interview process.
I seem to remember a story about Rauner receiving millions in possibly illegal donations from this guy. I wonder why we haven’t heard anything about that lately. Could it be because nothing was found or could it be because the agency in charge of investigating that got some new Rauner appointees soon after the investigation was started. Perhaps someone can do some digging on that.
++- VanillaMan - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 10:59 am:++ I agree with you, this way of thinking is sick & sad, but it seems to be our ‘new normal’. What can we do about it?
I interviewed there, immediately got the impression that it’s a cult. I walked out 1/2 way thru the interview due to interviewer’s illegal questions (married? how many children? what are there ages?)
Shouldn’t the people interviewing there be reporting the discriminatory questioning? The whole thing makes me sick. If this is the ” new normal” I, I’m stayin’ old school.
Kudos to Vman, as usual.
- Wordslinger - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 10:18 am:
Tried, once again, but it is impossible to read any Sun-Times link on my gadget. I know I’m not alone.They must be aware of that issue by now.
- Concerned - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 10:21 am:
So Uihlein had no qualms about accepting taxpayer subsidies? Yet he fights anything that might benefit the poor through tax dollars?
Got it.
- Tournaround Agenda - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 10:34 am:
@Concerned: That’s pretty much par for the course these days isn’t it? See Scott Walker’s subsidy for a new stadium at the expense of education funding.
- Langhorne - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 10:40 am:
The main takeaway for me from the article is the almost endless supply of dollar $ign$. Seems like, if you are U’s kind of vocal, agitating, activist conservative–get in line for a check. Just make sure to get the right buzzwords in your name: liberty, policy institute, news network, etc.
- JS Mill - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 10:47 am:
Lot’s of spending on Liberty and Freedom.
- Anon221 - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 10:51 am:
Dollars for “freedom” seems to be the theme here. Is there only one “freedom” for all, or only those that can afford it? Freedoms (plural) are intertwined with rights, and that is what makes a democracy messy-
http://www.newseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/education_resources_fightforallfive.pdf
- LizPhairTax - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 10:55 am:
Rich guy benefiting from generations of wealth doesn’t understand why YOU don’t work harder. Got it.
- VanillaMan - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 10:59 am:
Read it.
He is a man who has sold his citizenship. He didn’t see any benefit to keeping it when it required that he consider neighbors who couldn’t pay their way. He has embraced the idea that if you can’t buy something, you shouldn’t have it and government shouldn’t let you have it - unless it is really important, but so far, not much is important enough not to have a price tag on it.
Why? Because this gentleman never had to worry a single day in his life about his personal finances. His family has never had to worry a day over the past century about their personal finances. Mr. Uihlein would find Downton Abbey too liberal since Lord Grantham believes in assisting needy villagers and veterans.
It is common to find people born into vast wealth and rolling in vast wealth, to in turn, believe that people need to earn their way through life. They didn’t, but they were raised to believe that they did, or that by paying respect to the family members who had, they had in turn, earned their family’s millions.
So these twisted souls, capable of buying anything they desire, spend their days telling other people that they cannot get free things. Mr. Uihlein works at it - he spends his spare millions for political groups that tell voters they have a right to have nothing, freedom to earn substandard wages, and liberty to worry about how they will make it to payday.
Guys like him believe that going without makes you value what you have. When you are deathly sick, you value life if you recover. When you live in a hobo jungle under a railroad viaduct, you appreciate an 600 square foot condo in Bronzeville.
As long as it doesn’t mean they have to sacrifice or suffer anything, they believe it is good to suffer.
Bottom line - we can’t have a government that is determined to be a last resort for our needy neighbors if we follow men like Uihline who believe that what is needed is to see more of them living like Lot. Worse, guys like Uihline are telling the needy that those who help them as public servants, only serve themselves at their expense.
- Hornbacher - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 11:00 am:
==Now Uihlein is in the GOP presidential primary spotlight because he and his wife, Elizabeth, donated $2.5 million to the Unintimidated super PAC backing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s White House bid.==
How much did Uline (Uihlein) get in takes credits from Gov. Walker to move his company from Illinois to Wisconsin?
It would have been nice to leave this comment on the Sun times website as well but as RM has already noted today, their website sucks.
- Gruntled University Employee - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 11:51 am:
V Man, you nailed it.
- anony - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 11:53 am:
A good friend interviewed for an exec position at U-Line — said the corporate culture there was INSANE. Their general counsel is expected to also serve as the family lawyer for the entire family and spends a lot of time on estate planning and tax avoidance for the Uihleins; less time on things like serious HR problems at the company. The wife writes a newsletter to all employees that consists primarily of relatively unhinged ultra-right-wing ranting about taxes and how Democrats want to make all their employees lose their jobs by taxing the Uihleins too much, with occasional “Christian nation” stuff thrown in. Whenever elections are coming up she tells employees how she expects them to vote. HR or legal or management employees who see a problem with this get shown the door. They have a hugely restrictive dress code on what employees can wear (suits for office workers; preppy khakis and polos in the warehouse), with women in particular having to dress modestly and cover knees, shoulders, clavicles, etc. Bare legs (i.e., no nylons) are a fireable offense. Apparently the warehouse jobs are okay, as warehouse work goes, but office employees have super-high turnover because the Uihleins are demanding, fickle, and TOTAL NUTJOBS. Friend said it was the sickest corporate culture they’d ever been exposed to and opted NOT to continue with the interview process.
- ABC123 - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 11:56 am:
I seem to remember a story about Rauner receiving millions in possibly illegal donations from this guy. I wonder why we haven’t heard anything about that lately. Could it be because nothing was found or could it be because the agency in charge of investigating that got some new Rauner appointees soon after the investigation was started. Perhaps someone can do some digging on that.
- Mama - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 11:57 am:
++- VanillaMan - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 10:59 am:++ I agree with you, this way of thinking is sick & sad, but it seems to be our ‘new normal’. What can we do about it?
- Wordslinger - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 12:00 pm:
Anony, there are job placement agencies in Chicago that will not work with Uline due to the poor treatment of employees they’d placed in the past.
Always plenty of openings at Uline.
- Mama - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 12:01 pm:
++- anony - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 11:53 am:++
OMG! How can this be legal?
- Anon221 - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 12:13 pm:
Google- “uline discrimination” for some light reading.
- Damfunny - Wednesday, Sep 9, 15 @ 2:41 pm:
I interviewed there, immediately got the impression that it’s a cult. I walked out 1/2 way thru the interview due to interviewer’s illegal questions (married? how many children? what are there ages?)
- Property of IDOC - Thursday, Sep 10, 15 @ 5:37 am:
Shouldn’t the people interviewing there be reporting the discriminatory questioning? The whole thing makes me sick. If this is the ” new normal” I, I’m stayin’ old school.
Kudos to Vman, as usual.