[Rhodes22-list] POLITICAL Hey Plumber Joe: Been There, Done That
Herb Parsons
hparsons at parsonsys.com
Sun Oct 19 20:22:01 EDT 2008
Brad!!
I want to see if I'm completely clear on this:
You're in the 99th percentile as far as monetary wealth goes.
You and foreign born wife accomplished this in a single generation.
And you're unwilling to share your quickly found wealth with those poor
folks that have struggled for 3 or 4 generations to break free from
their poverty, and now only ask that they have a few necessities in life
like calbe for their color TV's and cell phones.
I'm sure there's some racist motivation in your refusal to share the wealth.
Brad Haslett wrote:
> Herb,
>
> Fan and I are BARELY in the 99% percentile and we're not rich. She
> arrived here in 1989 shortly after Tienanmen Square with two suit
> cases and $50 US money and I met her ten years later after her second
> graduate degree and third job. We struck a bond because after decades
> of living a "macroni and cheese lifestyle", maybe a "rice and noodles"
> lifestyle would be more appropriate - we found ourselves on the path
> to success. Now we're being told that we're guilty of something.
>
> It's always good to go home to Brownstown, Illinois. The town has
> grown, it was 650 people when I grew-up there, now it's up to 700
> people.
>
> I'll get back to you tomorrow on how things have changed. I'm glad to
> be back home. Mom and Dad are always good for inspiration.
>
> We'll survive!
>
> Brad
>
> On Sun, Oct 19, 2008 at 3:31 PM, Herb Parsons <hparsons at parsonsys.com> wrote:
>
>> What Obama and his ilk don't understand is that there are people that
>> recognize right and wrong no matter who it's directed at.
>>
>> I'm in the 95% that would get a tax cut under Obama's plan.
>>
>> I don't like it.
>>
>> I don't like it because it takes away from the other 5% to give to me. I
>> hope someday to be in that 5%, and I wouldn't want that done to me.
>>
>> It's all part of that old fashioned notion of do unto others as you
>> would have them do unto you. I don't want anyone taking money from me
>> and saying "I'm going to give this to someone else because they have
>> less than you."
>>
>> Because I don't want it done to me, I don't want it done to anyone else.
>>
>> But, I realize I'm a bit extreme.
>>
>> Brad Haslett wrote:
>>
>>> Andrew,
>>>
>>> Pay attention here, Joe the Plumber is not doing mid-night repairs on
>>> peoples shitters. He is working under someone else's license. If you
>>> know plumbing and plumbers then you know that it takes a seven year
>>> apprenticeship. How else does one become a plumber? So did Joe ask
>>> an invalid question because he didn't identify himself as "Joe the
>>> Apprentice Plumber"? The latest attack on Joe was from The One
>>> himself, "how many plumbers do you know that make more than $250,000 a
>>> year?". You should know, lot's of plumbing contractors make that much
>>> and more.
>>>
>>> The answer, "we need to share the wealth" is what is disturbing. You
>>> can't mathematically give 95% of the people "tax cuts" when the bottom
>>> 38% don't pay taxes. Even if you could, I wouldn't be in the 95% and
>>> as Tip O'neil used to say, "all politics is local". If almost 40% of
>>> voters have the chance to vote themselves a raise, they will. You now
>>> only need a small percentage of party faithful to vote your way and,
>>> PRESTO!, we've arrived at the tipping point our founding fathers
>>> worried about.
>>>
>>> The truth of the matter is, we don't know what Obama will do, his
>>> positions have shifted weekly. As a community organizer he helped
>>> shake down companies out of money. As a grant administrator he
>>> distributed monies to organizations based on race and radical ideas,
>>> not sound education principles. As a State Senator he either voted
>>> "present" if it was a controversial issue or "Yea" if it involved
>>> funneling money to Chicago cronies for public/private enterprises,
>>> most of which failed. As a US Senator he followed the party line 97%
>>> of the time and wrote no major piece of legislation.
>>>
>>> There isn't a whole lot in his record of late to make judgements on
>>> other than words. According to Obama, words mean something. So, I
>>> guess that when he plans to raise taxes and engage in restraint of
>>> trade he means it. Let's hope that works out better than it did for
>>> Herbert Hoover.
>>>
>>> Maybe this is what Dr. Johnson was thinking when he coined the phrase,
>>> "it is the triumph of hope over experience".
>>>
>>> Brad
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sat, Oct 18, 2008 at 4:37 PM, Andrew Collins
>>> <sailingvesselcarmen at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Brad
>>>>
>>>> What was your point exactly, Brad? You made mine quite nicely, thank you.
>>>> You are having trouble focusing.
>>>> I am very well versed in plumbing, and have seen just how badly unlicensed
>>>> plumbers can screw things up. Some of them even think shit can flow uphill,
>>>> and I have the photos to prove it.
>>>>
>>>> I tell all my intern engineers the first rule of construction is "shit flows
>>>> downhill", and have been telling them for 30 years.
>>>>
>>>> My firm can plumb anything you like, we are licensed in 4 states. We abide
>>>> by the law of the land, as do you.
>>>>
>>>> Get licensed Joe!
>>>>
>>>> Andrew
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 4:56 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Andrew,
>>>>>
>>>>> God bless your immature heart. How the hell do you get experience?
>>>>> You started out shitting in your pants. Someone had to help you find
>>>>> your way to the John. Attacking Joe the Plumber because he doesn't
>>>>> have a license is silly. Allow me to let you in on a little secret
>>>>> here. I work in the most regulated profession in the world. I get
>>>>> tested at at minimum every six months (I'm an examiner). I get a
>>>>> physical every six months. Every day at work I'm subject to drug
>>>>> testing. Every day I'm subject to a random government oversight test.
>>>>> I challenge you to find a profession that has a bigger microscope
>>>>> focused on it.
>>>>>
>>>>> You are worried about a plumber? Here's a clue kid! Shit flows
>>>>> downhill. Plumbing is serious business. It takes 7 years of
>>>>> experience to get a plumbers license. You have to be smart to get
>>>>> one. But don't you cast aspersions on someone who is working on a
>>>>> plumbing license or someone who is aspiring one.
>>>>>
>>>>> Most of the PhD's I know couldn't pour piss out of a boot with the
>>>>> instructions printed on the heel. Never underestimate the common
>>>>> wisdom of someone who knows the direction of shit given gravity or
>>>>> "shit from shinola".
>>>>>
>>>>> Brad
>>>>>
>>>>> On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 3:12 PM, Andrew Collins
>>>>> <sailingvesselcarmen at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> 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, <pdgrand at nospam.wmis.net> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> October 17, 2008
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hey Plumber Joe: Been There, Done That
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> By C. Edmund Wright<http://www.americanthinker.com/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.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> -------------- next part --------------
>>>>>>> An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed...
>>>>>>> Name: untitled-[2]
>>>>>>> Url:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/attachments/20081017/5a0870b2/attachment.txt
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>> __________________________________________________
>>>>>>> To subscribe/unsubscribe or for help with using the mailing list go to
>>>>>>> http://www.rhodes22.org/list
>>>>>>> __________________________________________________
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> __________________________________________________
>>>>>> To subscribe/unsubscribe or for help with using the mailing list go to
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.rhodes22.org/list
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> __________________________________________________
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>> __________________________________________________
>>>>> To subscribe/unsubscribe or for help with using the mailing list go to
>>>>> http://www.rhodes22.org/list
>>>>> __________________________________________________
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> __________________________________________________
>>>> To subscribe/unsubscribe or for help with using the mailing list go to http://www.rhodes22.org/list
>>>> __________________________________________________
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>> __________________________________________________
>>> To subscribe/unsubscribe or for help with using the mailing list go to http://www.rhodes22.org/list
>>> __________________________________________________
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> __________________________________________________
>> To subscribe/unsubscribe or for help with using the mailing list go to http://www.rhodes22.org/list
>> __________________________________________________
>>
>>
> __________________________________________________
> To subscribe/unsubscribe or for help with using the mailing list go to http://www.rhodes22.org/list
> __________________________________________________
>
>
>
More information about the Rhodes22-list
mailing list