Not that you really are short Apple. Just bluster, like the two bearish Apple analysts always on CNBC, not really short. Few if any retail investors have the equity to really short stocks. But I'll happily sell you some puts on AAPL.

That is SHAREHOLDER cash, not employee cash, Mr. Marx.

In Q4's, and they tend to make Q4's better than Q1's. No analyst compares sequential quarters, so keep your day job.

Their iPad sales dropped significantly quarter-over-quarter.

Again, Christmas, dude. And the new iPad was the worst-kept secret in the tech world for months, and it was only on sale for 3 weeks in Q1 and they couldn't make enough of them to keep up with demand. Apple DOMINATES the tablet space. Number 2 isn't even close.

At the height of the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt chastised the business and political leaders who had led the country into ruin. 'These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men,' said FDR. 'Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now.'

FDR tried demonizing big business in America. Then business went on a capital strike, and FDR got whacked in the 1938 midterms. Then FDR changed his tune, and realized he shouldn't try to kill the golden goose, and actually backed off and courted business. This is similar to what is happening now, as companies sit on profits and don't expand or hire. Unfortunately, Obama isn't as smart or pragmatic as FDR, and didn't learn from his 2010 midterm spanking.

Than "last time I checked."

The US remains in the aftermath of a massive economic downturn due to a housing and credit bubble bursting, and the current administration's incompetent and often counter-productive attempts to deal with it. But if you actually look at US vs German economic growth over time, it isn't even close. You do realize that the US - extant for a mere 238 years - has a GDP the size of the entire EU?

I'm a business owner. Are you? You can refuse to believe how I and other business owners feel, but it really is a disincentive to hire when the government puts up obstacles. I'm telling you this is how I feel and act in the real world. You are now free to go back to your fantasy world.

This article is just the sort of government intrusion that makes me never want to hire anyone. Freedom of contract used to mean something in this country. No more. So I'll answer my own phones.

As Peter Schiff has said, hiring someone in the United States is one of the most expensive and riskiest things a business owner can do.

I'm sure you'll all mod this "-1, I disagree with you," but I am speaking very honestly. Keep throwing taxes and regulations at something, and you'll get less of it. Like jobs.

Though, in truth, we could get there simply by taxing capital gains the same way as any other income.

You mean by not double taxing them, as we do now, unlike other countries' treatment of public-held corporate gains and profits? You do know when you tax something, you get less of it, right? Raise cap gains taxes and stocks look less attractive, capital flows out, tax revenue drops - as does the stock market. Go look at what happened when Reagan and Clinton cut cap gains rates - the markets took off.

I already pay roughly 45% on my options/spreads and short-term stock gains (between fed and state), and I don't get to deduct any losses over $3000. So please go rob someone else. The government should incentivize, not discourage investment in American companies.

"loser pays" clauses. While arbitration cannot take away rights of parties, it can add "rights." Loser paying for costs is a big disincentive to lawsuits.

Of course, the reason federal law and courts like arbitration is there is no way the already crowded courts can possibly handle all the cases. Whine about consumer rights all you want, but 90% of civil cases in America use alternative dispute resolution (e.g., settlement, arbitration, etc) to reach agreement on cases instead of court trials. If they did not, raise your hand if you are willing to pay the taxes (not someone else pay, you pay) to build 900% more courthouses and pay for the staff to accommodate the increased caseload.

Why this is news escapes me, other than typical /. ignorance of the law. Almost every consumer electronics contract has an arbitration clause. Every ISP, every cable contract, every car sale contract. They are everywhere. You guys remind me of Louis in Casablanca, shocked, shocked to find arbitration clauses!

The Bill of Rights were never intended to apply to the states. On the contrary, they were a follow-up to a promise by James Madison to the states rights guys (aka, Anti-Federalists) that if they ratified the Constitution, there would be some amendments that would limit on federal power (there were 12, ten were ratified).

While several of the Amendments (or parts thereof) in the Bill of Rights were later incorporated by SCOTUS pursuant to the 14th Amendment, the 7th Amendment right to jury trial in civil cases was never incorporated (the Re-Examination Clause was).

Jobs was awarded a Gulfstream by Apple for saving the company. “Given what he’s accomplished, we should give him five airplanes!”, Apple director Larry Ellison said at the time.

And I know plenty of middle class people who have fought their cities for building permits. Nice nitpick, though.

You get more of it.

You post is utter, citeless bullshit. The US is one of the few countries, unlike Europe, where social mobility is very possible. Even for worker bees, just putting money in a Roth IRA every month in a good Dow 30 dividend stock will make you a millionaire in 30 years.

2011's The Forbes 400 of Richest Americans was An all-time high 70% of this year's list are self-made, up from 55% in 1997>. And many are college drop-outs.

If anything, being born wealthy makes kids lazy and entitled and lacking in the drive and ambition that drove their parents. Last time I checked, Paris Hilton wasn't on the Forbes 400.

all the richest guys I know work 60+ hours/week.

Except the lawyers, they work 80 hours a week.

I don't know how people can simultaneously criticize the rich, and how they got that way. Cognitive dissonance at its best.

If you hate your job, take a risk and start a business. But, beware, it's not as easy as Mitt Romney makes it look.

Go look at the mortality numbers of who lives longer. Those who immerse themselves in work and never retire live to 90. Then go look at the people who die a week after retiring. People need a purpose when they wake up in the morning to stay vital and healthy.