[Rhodes22-list] POLITICAL Hey Plumber Joe: Been There, Done That

[Todd Tavares]

 I have been a licensed Airframe and Powerplant aircraft mechanic and an
ASE certified automobile mechanic.  I now work as an elevator mechanic in
a Federal Government office building in Washington, DC, but do not have a
license.  Do politicians have licenses?  I'd rather have Joe the Plumber
hook up the gas line to my water heater than have a socialist as my
President. I can check Joe's work with some dish soap and water.

Todd T.

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: "Andrew Collins"
  To: "The Rhodes 22 Email List"
  Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] POLITICAL Hey Plumber Joe: Been There,
  Done That
  Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:12:39 -0400


  Dear pdgrand nospam:

  awful post

  " ... when decades of liberal energy policy came home to roost "?

  This post isn't worthy of even this lowly slug-fest we call a sailing
  forum.

  And whaddabout the subject line? Ed where are you?

  Can we have a new rule: you have to write it yourself not cut and
  paste any
  old uncorroborated opinion that oozes across the web?
  And if Joe is an unlicensed plumber, he is just that. He should be
  licensed,
  take the tests, go to trade school. Do unlicensed pilots fly? Do
  unregistered engineers practice, do unlicensed beauticians give
  facials? No,
  they don't

  This unlicensed tradesman is manipulating gas installations,
  connections to
  the public water supply, connectiions to public sewer systems, etc.
  This
  work brings with it responsibilities that every municipality requires
  be
  satisfied by obtaining a plumbing license before being allowed to
  this kind
  of work.

  Andrew


  On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 2:37 PM, wrote:

  >
  > October 17, 2008
  >
  > Hey Plumber Joe: Been There, Done That
  >
  > By C. Edmund Wright
  >
  > God love you Joe. Bless your heart Joe. You, and people like you,
  are
  > what makes the country work. You make the country great. You get it
  -- you
  > act on it -- and you enrich the lives of your family and your
  friends and
  > your communities and your charities as a result.
  > But I think what I should say now is "God help you Joe." Look, 16
  plus
  > years ago I was where you are now. And I must tell you if Obama
  wins, I
  > am pulling the plug in a few months. I am out. I have had it. I am
  > preparing to destroy almost 100 jobs and lower my tax bracket and I
  can't
  > wait.
  >
  > Consider: 16 years ago I was statistically in poverty, but I had
  dreams
  > and a plan. At the time, the remnants of Reaganomics still set the
  > economic tone and a fired up Newt Gingrich was forcing conservatism
  on the
  > Clinton White House every time Bill and Hillary tried to move left.
  There
  > were actually politicians who praised business owners and business
  in
  > general. Against that backdrop, I've had a pretty good run. It's
  been
  > extremely challenging and the move up was not a straight line, but
  I am
  > better off than I was 16 years ago. And 8 years ago. And 4 years
  ago. And
  > so are a lot of folks who have been on this ride with me.
  >
  > But Joe, I am not better off than I was just 2 years ago. That's
  when
  > decades of liberal energy policy came home to roost and four dollar
  gas
  > took several hundred thousands from my bottom line faster than I
  could
  > possibly react. That same gas price slammed my customers -- and my
  > customer's customers -- forcing our company into a vice of rapidly
  rising
  > costs and rapidly dropping revenues. Oh, and for fun, slower
  payments from
  > our customers.
  >
  > That started the ripple through the sub prime mortgage industry,
  and we
  > have all seen the unraveling of our financial system which was more
  or
  > less totally underpinned by real estate "values." Those assumed
  valuations
  > were the basis for any number of derivatives and credit swaps and
  so on.
  > Well, forget all that Wall Street talk. To you and me it means
  employees
  > are more desperate for money, customers are less willing to buy,
  slower to
  > pay and banks less willing to lend. It certainly means whatever
  homes and
  > 401K's you have are worth less too which makes your bank even less
  anxious
  > to lend to your business. It is the main street carnage of
  "unfettered
  > government" onto small business. It is the destructive fruit of
  > environmental leftists, the Fannie-Freddie cronies in government
  and other
  > corrupt liberals in positions of power.
  >
  > And sadly, this is also the result of George Bush giving into these
  folks
  > all too often in defense of his "new tone." (That worked out well,
  didn't
  > it?) This was helped ironically by John McCain "reaching across the
  aisle"
  > to vote against tax cuts and vote for energy restrictions and so
  on. All
  > of this was nicely summed up by Mitt Romney when he said that our
  problems
  > stem from "too many Republicans acting too much like Democrats."
  Now, if
  > the polls are anywhere near accurate, we are going to get a taste
  of "real
  > Democrats acting too much like Marxists" for at least a few years.
  >
  > Mitt was right, but the pundits said McCain was more acceptable to
  the
  > moderates. Hmmm. Wonder if a financial turn-around specialist like
  Mitt
  > might sell to the moderates now? Just a wild thought from someone
  not
  > smart enough to be a beltway pundit.
  >
  > Now Joe, as someone whose been there, let me tell you how this
  works,
  > though I think you have a good idea. At the end of the year, as an
  LLC, I
  > do file taxes with the business profit on my personal returns like
  many of
  > others do as well. And yes, that figure is much bigger than 250
  thousand.
  > But that's not really MY MONEY to keep. It's how I underpin my
  business.
  > When customers disappear or take their time paying bills, I still
  have to
  > pay my employees, rent, suppliers, and countless other expenses.
  Every
  > penny that the tax man takes out of that profit is less money that
  I have
  > to carry forward to stay in business for the next year. And if
  Obama and
  > Reid and Pelosi take more of this by "raising taxes on the rich"
  then of
  > course my business will suffer. And so will all the employees.
  >
  > This is exactly what almost none of those lawyers turned
  politicians
  > understand.
  >
  > But of course, you will have to send tax money into the government,
  Joe,
  > because the man who is in charge of spending that money -- Charlie
  Rangel
  > -- damned sure wasn't paying his fair share as we know now. Get out
  that
  > checkbook.
  >
  > Of course, all of this matters only if you can afford to fill your
  > plumbing vans with gas at gosh knows what price. It could be that
  the
  > recession will lower the gas price, but that's not terribly good
  news for
  > you either, since customers don't spend as much money in a
  recession. I
  > mean, I hate to burst your bubble, but small business owners are
  > surrounded by a sea of challenges outside their control and almost
  all of
  > them are caused by liberalism. Government has formed a business
  firing
  > squad and it's a doggone circle!
  >
  > I wish you well, guy. You might just have the genius and
  persistence to
  > pull this off. I really do hope so. As for me, I have had enough. I
  have
  > fought creeping liberalism and managed more wins than losses over
  17
  > years. We have progressed to where our business, now a corporation,
  is
  > big enough so that Obama and his ilk now have their own ideas about
  "what
  > larger businesses can afford" and what "corporations can afford."
  >
  > Well I've got news for him. I cannot afford what they think I can
  afford,
  > so I am breaking her up and giving her away to some key employees.
  I wish
  > them well too. They are like you, tough and smart. Perhaps if they
  stay
  > small enough and never can carry forward more than 250 thou to the
  next
  > year, they will be allowed to keep their businesses through a
  downturn.
  >
  > As for me? I'm outta here.
  >
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