Great John Edwards' Address On Rewarding Work And Creating Opportunity

Sen. John Edwards -- Our economy, our people, and our nation have been undermined by the crony capitalists who believe that success is all about working the angles, working the phones, and rigging the game, instead of hard work, innovation and frugality.

And these manipulators find comfort in an Administration which, through its own example, seems to embrace that ethic.

We will never turn this country around until we put our economy and our government back in line with our values.

To the business students here today, I want to say: You can do more than anyone else to restore our values to the business world. The captains of industry who create jobs and wealth deserve to be rewarded richly, but it's wrong when they walk away with staggering bonuses while regular workers' pensions are cut. It's wrong to manipulate tax laws and accounting rules to inflate corporate profits. I hope you will remember and respect your responsibilities to your community throughout your careers.

America can withstand a plunge in corporate valuations, but we cannot abide a plunge in corporate values. We can overcome the worst job market for people seeking work since the Depression, but not an economic theory that says work doesn’t matter.