I'm a mechanic.

[austin78704]

Specifically, a heavy truck mechanic.

Yeah, I work for a corporation.

And yeah, the guys at the top are rich.

But they didn't hire me out of the kindness of their wallets. They hired me because there was work to be done that they could not do themselves.

There was work to be done when I was hired because there was work for the trucks to do. There was work for the trucks to do because the little people were working.

I've worked on shitloads of trucks hauling food, furniture, cows, rocks, shingles, bricks, steel, cars, machinery, septic tanks and shit, cement, gas, CO2, aspalt, books, other trucks, trees, etc.

I've worked on exactly zero trucks hauling fucking tax breaks.

[ZombieHorde]

1. Recommended and welcome to oops!

I see you have been here since Dec. of 2009. I guess the time for a 'welcome to DU' has passed.

[Snotcicles]

33. Delete. nt

[Snotcicles]

34. Which "Tax Breaks" are you referring to? nt

[mediaman007]

2. Amen!

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[1955doubledie]

11. That's a little harsh, dontcha think?

We all have to eat, you know. For some, the choice is between working for the soul-less corporation, or starving.

[alittlelark]

17. Not really - I don't. We all made choices.

Some for the betterment of society - some for the detriment.

[BarryMeNot]

35. So, you decided people should starve?

:crazy:

[MindPilot]

42. Then this is REALLY going to grind your gears...

Not only do I work for a large corporation, that corporation is a defense contractor.

[tammywammy]

52. Me too n/t

[austin78704]

15. Oh, really?

Well, since you seem to know so much, I suppose you could at least NAME the corporation that killed the mom and pop shop my dad would have worked for? Or did you just make that up?

Get back to me when you give up your holier-than-thou bumpersticker bullshit.

[alittlelark]

16. Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, Dollar Stores.......

The list is long and ignominious.

[Electric Monk]

18. So in your eyes, to be a "real" DUer, one must be self-employed or unemployed?

Just checking.



/Welcome to DU, Austin

[alittlelark]

19. strawman.

[proteus_lives]

20. Does it hurt? Putting yourself on that cross, I mean.

[urgk]

39. Maybe. But change his wording to...

..."So in your eyes, to be a "real" DUer, one must not work for a corporation?" and he/she would be dead-on.

Work for a mom and pop, be self-employed, be jobless or get the h*** out?

[A HERETIC I AM]

22. Follows is a list of all the heavy trucks worked on by Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart & Dollar Stores;

.








.






.






.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled irrelevancy.

[austin78704]

61. Actually....

Wally world has a huge fleet and their own shops to maintain it. One of the guys I work with used to work at their shop near us.

They also run a bunch of prototype trucks for the various truck makers. Even though they mostly run Freightliners, there was a little buzz a while back about some "Green Peterbilts." They were hybrid prototypes.

The others have their own fleets, too, but I don't know about shops.

That all said, I don't shop at Walmart. I've never liked cheap shit.

[A HERETIC I AM]

68. I understand that.

I am well aware of Wal-Mart's transportation division and the fact that they do much of their own maintenance (I drove OTR for 20 years). One thing is for sure, however: They do damned little maintenance on other carriers vehicles and none of their retail outlets do work on heavy trucks.

As a heavy truck mechanic, if you worked for Wal-Mart it wouldn't be at one of their stores.

The person I responded to insinuated the companies that would have "killed" a "mom and pop shop" that your father hypothetically worked at were the giant retail establishments mentioned ("Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, Dollar Stores."), NONE of which do any work on heavy trucks at their stores.

My guess is you work for Penske or Ryder or a similar operation.

My best friend who is a master diesel mechanic worked for Penske for 19 years.

[austin78704]

69. Ah, cool.

I certainly didn't mean to dispute you, I just saw a chance to throw that out there.

I actually work at one of the dealerships. I wound up here because it's more interesting. After all, most places, when it gets too difficult/nasty/screwed up, eventually say, "Fuck it, send it over to the dealership!" The dealership has to fix it. The crazy hard cases are what I enjoy.

[A HERETIC I AM]

70. Fair enough. Paccar products?

Or Daimler?
Or Volvo? Cat?

I understand about the "send it to the dealership" idea. After all, that's what you're there for, right? lol

In my buddy's shop I think the farthest they would go is an in-frame, and those were pretty rare for them. Like most Lease/rental shops it was mostly oil changes, tires and basic repairs. Blown engines or outright replacements were sent to the dealer.

You do a tough, dirty and often thankless job. Speaking as someone whose livelihood depended on the expertise of guys like you, you have my respect. I am very mechanically inclined, but there is a reason I never became a mechanic. I just don't have the patience for it.

[austin78704]

72. All the above!

It's kind of funny down here. Or at least it struck me that way when I first arrived. All of the dealerships work on all lines. If you take a Freighliner to the Freightliner dealer you certainly have access to better system-specific service, but if you took it over to Mack or anywhere else you wouldn't be the only one there with a Freightliner. There's so much crosstalk there's bound to be somebody there who's familiar with Freightliners anyway. We're all constantly calling each other for tech support.

So, yes, I work on Paccar products, Daimler products, Volvo products, Cat, Cummins, Navistar, Meritor, Eaton, Allison, ZF, Terex, Pierce, etc. Then there's the whole medium-duty universe. We even see the occasional custom chassis. Buses and RVs, too. We work on cars when the corporate guys want a discount. About the only thing that hasn't come through yet is military hardware. Yet.

It's funny you should say you don't have the patience to be a mechanic--I don't have the patience to be a driver. (:

Thanks!

[austin78704]

23. None of which have employed me

I'm am completely OK with not being up to whatever standard you found in your ass today.

[Beartracks]

67. Friend of mine made this observation...

Wal-Mart does not kill the Mom & Pops in town; the consumers do. When Wal-Mart comes to your town and opens its doors, what brings the people in? Why do they choose to shop there rather than at the Mom & Pop? Sure, Wal-Mart does not offer the service, friendliness, flexibility, employee loyalty & benefits, etc., AND it plays by different rules because of its size and clout... BUT, in the end, Wal-Mart's success is predicated on the fact that many, many consumers value CHEAPER PRICES above all that other stuff. If they didn't, then they'd have no reason to change their shopping habits.

I have no love for Wal-Mart, and people I know who work there even call it the Evil Empire. But it gets the goods to the people cheaper, and the people vote with their wallets. I don't think it's a coincidence that Wal-Mart has arisen as middle-class economic security has been whittled away over the last 30 years.

-----------------------------

[elehhhhna]

28. mom and pops are overrated sometimes.

smallbiz owners can be major asshats.

[lumberjack_jeff]

26. Please let us know which employees are not entitled to be democrats. n/t

Many of us work for an organization which firebomed Falluja, for instance.

[watrwefitinfor]

27. I've read some dumb things on DU but that's hands down one of the dumbest. n/t

[senseandsensibility]

55. Would you mind telling me what it said?

You can PM me if you want. After reading this thread, I am curious.

[napi21]

4. That was good! Thanx. I bet you also never worked on a truck

hauling any rich executives either!

Welcome to DU

[dkf]

5. Tax breaks were designed to create consumption when incomes were stagnant.

Basically they used the country's credit card to go hog wild.

[jmowreader]

7. No they were not

Tax breaks were designed to remove money for social spending from the federal budget.

[dkf]

12. It was meant to drown future social spending.

By leaving us with a huge credit card bill.

[hfojvt]

21. well which was it, to stimulate consumption or to drown social spending?

You just keep moving those goalposts. There's gotta be a reason somewhere for the rich to get permanent tax cuts. What about WMD?

[dkf]

24. Consumption in the short run but causing the future crunch.

Those in the know knew how to plan. They always know how to watch out for themselves.

[RKP5637]

6. Excellent post!!! And also welcome to DU!

:toast:

[unkachuck]

8. K&R...."...because the little people were working."....n/t

[bemildred]

9. Or trucks hauling Credit Default Swaps either.

Or anything else that comes out of Wall Street banks.

[AnArmyVeteran]

38. I had a derivative for breakfast this morning.

It's sad how a handful of people can concoct schemes and scams and get great wealth while not producing anything of actual value for society. I realized when I was 16 that those who produced the most got paid the least, and those who produced the least got paid the most. That was when I was a kid and now things are worse than I could ever have imagined. An illegal migrant farm worker produces more for society in one day than all of Wall Street does in their lifetimes. I'm tired of the deadbeat rich living off of the hard work of the poor and middle classes.

[DontTreadOnMe]

10. kick to the front page!

n/t

[Bozita]

13. Best.Damned.Post.Today.!.

[Mimosa]

14. Cool. Austin, post more.

:D

[lumberjack_jeff]

25. BING-GO! n/t

[tourivers83]

29. Bad brakes whole car shakes.

Have you ever worked on any trucks with bad brakes?

:rofl: :hide: :rofl:

[slackmaster]

30. K&R - I'm a Systems Administrator. Allow me to filk your post.

Specifically, a production data center systems administrator running commercial Web sites.

Yeah, I work for a corporation, one owned privately by a family.

And yeah, the guys at the top are rich. Way rich.

But they didn't hire me out of the kindness of their wallets. They hired me because there was work to be done that they could not do themselves.

There was work to be done when I was hired because there was work for the computer systems to do. There was work for the systems to do because the little people were working.

I've worked on shitloads of commercial Web sites pushing educational materials, real estate data, banking transactions, credit reports, etc.

I've worked on exactly zero Web sites pushing fucking tax breaks.

[comtec]

31. Um... I get your point, but your last sentence is a false premise

See, he physically CAN'T have anything to do with the tax cuts, as they are an imaginary thing (like credit)

You, however, CAN, because you deal with imaginary things such as networks, and website - which can display such things (before you start, I'm also a system administrator, and a control engineer - RS232. so I deal with imaginary things all the time when I work ^^ )

The OP will never be able to haul tax breaks, while you, in theory, will be able to.

That said...

Yeah, I agree completely with both points.

[LawnKorn]

59. They are not imaginary; they are intangible n/t

[FirstLight]

32. which tax breaks are you talking about?

If you are referring to the ones for the wealthy, and corporations then you are probably right.

If you are referring to the ones for small businesses, you are most likely wrong.
Tax breaks for small business allow them to buy more trucks, more bricks, more chickens, etc...and even if you work for a large corporation fixing said trucks, the small business owners regionally are the ones that are working WITH the corporation to use the trucks for hauling...

so let's remember where the work really comes from, when a job needs to be done, and skills to do it are needed, you hire people
when there's no money to rent the truck, buy the bricks, etc...then things just stop. and you my friend are out of a job.

[AnArmyVeteran]

36. Eloquently stated!!!

Every politician who gives a damn about our country and our people should tell your story. Perfect!

[TBF]

37. Amen, brother. nt

[urgk]

40. I'm just waiting for the Ayn Rand-ians to go through with their threat.

And move all of the wealthy to a gated golf state (pun intended) to let the ones with real ideas run the show.

[MindPilot]

41. You get your hands dirty when you work...that means you're dumb

Yes, unfortunately even here on the ultra progressive DU, you will find the academic snobs who will look down their noses and dismiss your opinion.

A K&R because I think your comment is right on.

[urgk]

46. Well, this soft-handed academic appreciates the heck out of anybody...

...who makes sure that thousands of tons of truck do exactly what the driver wants them to do. Which, in the end, keeps other people safe, lowering my auto insurance, taxes and anything else that would cost more because of an increase in accidents.

I'm much too appreciative of what good mechanic work means to the rest of us to be snobbish. :)

[Hamlette]

43. bet you didn't work on any truck hauling derivatives either

ass holes

[Hamlette]

44. bet you didn't work on any truck hauling derivatives either

ass holes

[maryf]

45. just think what a general strike would do?

if all us workers decided to take a real holiday from the owners, Solidarity! K&R

[customerserviceguy]

48. Perhaps cripple the economy a bit further

than what it's hurting right now?

At this point, there's a 'capital strike' which is screwing the economy. Big, fat ass businesses sitting on wads of stored cash, all getting nearly zip in interest. It's a matter of who goes first to stimulate the economy. The business tax breaks are intended in theory to do that.

No, the OP doesn't fix trucks that haul tax breaks. But he might be working on ones that haul machinery that someone ordered because they got the tax break that pushed them over the edge to do something they wanted to do. When his company gets paid to haul that, they perhaps have more money to hire an additional worker to fix more trucks, and that worker has income to spend on local businesses, etc.

If President Obama's really going to try out Ronnie Raygun's tax ideas, maybe the targeted jobs tax credit from that era, along with the business investment credits would help, too.

[jtuck004]

56. NOBODY EVER BOUGHT ANYTHING BECAUSE OF A TAX BREAK.

Period.

They bought it because their company could make money with it. The tax break was a smoke screen for an economy that has been wrecked by the greedy and selfish, which drove down the demand that would have motivated the purchase. So the tax break was not the reason, it was a subterfuge designed to avert our eyes from the real heartache.

THEY NEVER HIRED ANYONE BECAUSE OF A TAX BREAK.

They hired them because they could make money from their labor. The tax break was a smokescreen, a way of not taking responsiblity for what one owes society for their part in making a life together.

Take a look at decades after the WPA and the WARS. Much of the country was doing very well, no one was listening to a bunch of selfish little liars running around insisting that they should bear no responsiblity for the costs they were placing on the rest of us. The percentage of people living on 1 income was growing, they were sending their kids to school, a growing sense of security and wealth was in the air. As people aged there were places for them to live where they didn't have to lay with old breakfast on them for days. Recognizing that it could be better programs were instituted to put a safety net under the aged and infirm, and we changed what poverty looks like in this country, as well as lowering the percentage of those who had to endure it.

Then came the selfish, with their song of better times (sung from behind the mask that hid their ugliness) and we switched directions, listening to the greedy who, while they preached the doctrine of the avaricous, sent their clowns into the crowd to pick out pockets. The Chicago school folks showed how the selfish could throw away people and make more money, using the military to kill and beat those who disagreed, and we started down a road that will very likely mean the end of this experiment in democracy.

It's too bad really, because people SHOULD take a day or two off, with some conciousness-raising about who their friends really are (and it ain't the corporate owners making 1000 or 2000 or more times the salary of the highest paid worker, nor the banker who is getting multi-million dollars bonuses replete with tax-breaks). Maybe we could talk about how to encourage our neighbors to undermine their employers, and create a business to compete with them.

Don't like it GE, Disney, Kraft, others? Fine, take a hike. We will do just fine without you. Maybe better.

[customerserviceguy]

58. Well, that's just not true

You can certainly argue that tax breaks would be way less effective now than they were thirty years ago, when the price of capital was high, and the supply was low. Clearly, it's not a liquidity crisis, it's a matter of companies sitting on cash deciding whether or not the next rise in the economy is coming.

I offer the recent rise in real estate sales as a result of the buyer credits as an example of people buying things because of tax breaks. Sure enough, the break expires, and real estate sales fall flat again. I'd argue that it was a bad idea to stop the fall of the real estate market, as we can see, it's still not found rock bottom yet.

People make all kinds of decisions based on tax policy, including accellerated deductions, credits, and other tax attributes. Maybe it's only because I was enrolled to practice before the IRS back in the 1980's that I realize that, but it's based on a lifetime of observation.

We can argue whether the stimulus provided by tax breaks is a good or bad thing for the economy, or if (like cash for clunkers) it simply moves economic activity from one period to an earlier one. But it's settled that tax breaks are a motivator.

[jtuck004]

66. Any business that buys anything based on anything other than demand

is going to fail. Giving them tax breaks is like a little kid giving candy to a child molester to attract him closer. The candy ain't the motivator, it is distracting us from seeing what really is.

I agree they make lots of decisions based on tax policy, that they take advantage of other taxpayers. We give millionaires tax breaks on bonuses of billions of dollars to create derivatives based on scamming the financially unsophisticated borrower, all to create bonds rated to be far less risky than they are by criminals in the rating industry which are then sold to pension funds to steal the hard-earned dollars of a lifetime of labor - sure, they take advantage of that, along with everyone and everything else. Does business take advantage of tax loopholes their scumbag friends in Congress get them, instead of helping pay for the schools, police, firefighters, streets, etc? Sure.

But no business is going to buy things based only on tax breaks. They have to have income from somewhere, and that doesn't come from tax breaks. Those just let them keep more of the money they make from their sales, and shift what they should be paying to other taxpayers who don't have a profit center.

Here's a thought. Take away all their tax breaks. Is everyone going to just shut their doors and die? No, and if they don't want to run the business I guarantee someone else will.

What motivates them is the money they make from the machinery or people they buy. The tax break is just candy. In a fair system, with business owners who really cared about their country and their neighbors, we would have a system that didn't need loopholes.

At least that's the way I see it. YMMV...

I agree propping up the housing prices is a bad idea - we are going to be paying for that for years, and they are going to continue to fall...

[customerserviceguy]

88. A tax break

acts as a reduction in price. If you have a budget, and can only afford to buy 100 widgets to use in your business, a 5% tax cut on widgets lets you buy 105 of them.

As I said, I used to do taxes, and there are a LOT of shaky tax breaks out there that should be phased out when we get to better times. Perhaps deductibility of home mortgage interest is one of them, no other investment has that going for it. It's allowed home prices to balloon over my lifetime.

[maryf]

79. Maybe crippling the economy further...

might not be a bad idea? "the recovery" certainly hasn't been "trickling down" much...hit the owners in the pocket book? Make them take notice of their workers? (I only refer to the "upper" economy as something to be crippled...)

[customerserviceguy]

89. In any economic slowdown

it's always the people at the bottom that hurt the first, and hurt the worst. While it seems fun to grab a few extra bucks out of the fatcats, they're still going to have a roof over their heads, food on their table, clothes on their backs, and more toys to play with than you and I can even drool over.

[democrank]

47. What you wrote, Mr. Heavy Truck Mechanic.....

was a thing of beauty. Bless you.

[bvar22]

49. Solidarity!

When the Working Class & The Poor realize we have more in common with each other than we have in common with the Leadership of EITHER Political Party, "CHANGE" will happen.
WE outnumber THEM.
Divided we fall.



If you Work for a Living, do NOT trust ANY politician who expresses a belief in a Giant "Invisible Hand" or "Free Trade". Neither exists, and that politician is NOT your friend.

[laughingliberal]

50. K & R nt

[jtuck004]

51. K&R and thank you n/t

[handmade34]

53. I love mechanics

:)

thanks for the work you do

I used to farm and considered it real work, I work on government studies now and laughingly call it "make work" - but it puts lots of money into the system which goes to real people...

[B Calm]

54. Remember, hard work will make you rich.

But, if that's really true, hell I ought to be a billionaire by now!

[earcandle]

57. The argument for tax breaks creating jobs has been debunked. We have given tax breaks since 2001

and wages have lowered since then, and jobs have been lost
since then, and jobs have been outsourced since then.  So
giving any rich Americans tax breaks are in direct opposition
to creating any kind of worth while jobs for Americans. 
Better to give that money directly to the middle class and the
poor so that we are educated again with skills that can make
us competitive and to small to mid sized companies that are
strong without their strings being pulled by the filthy rich.

IMNSHO.

[truedelphi]

60. Hey good for you. And excellent post.

But as far as having zero truck loads hauling tax breaks - maybe not tax breaks - but nine billion of dollars in cold hard American greenback was sent by ship or plane to Iraq where it got hauled to pallets (Blackwater private truck division?) and then promptly disappeared!

[BoneDaddy]

62. hehe

love it

[Confusious]

63. Should be a commercial

Should get a lot of people who are blue collar to do these things.

[pacalo]

64. I love your idea. It's the Austins who are the true heroes in keeping this country going.

[MichiganVote]

65. Beautiful!!!

[sam sarrha]

71. yea... but you really don't know how bad it really is.. find out here.. >Link>>

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

the top 1% has 42.7 of Americas Financial wealth, the next 19& has 50.3%, and the Bottom 80% only has 7% of America's financial wealth. the top 1% holds 6 times the wealth of the bottom 80%.. that is why there is a recession. there is simply no money left in the system to have an economy.

also... the top 1% holds 5.4% Debt, the next 9% hold 21.3% of debt, the bottom 90% holds 73.4% with only $7 of the financial wealth

this is the definition of Fascism...

[MadMaddie]

73. Welcome to DU austin78704!!

:hi:

[Melissa G]

74. 78704 is where we usually have DU meetups in Austin

I office in that area. Go check out the DU Texas Forum. We will be getting together again soon. :hi:

[Dystopian]

75. KandR.

Thank you....you've said it all.

peace~

[TheDebbieDee]

76. You knocked this out of the park!

K & R!

I only wish I could rec this more than once!

[NNadir]

77. You're a pretty damned poetic mechanic.

Very eloquent.

[DainBramaged]

78. I've worked on exactly zero trucks hauling fucking tax breaks.

The best line of the year :yourock: :applause:

[TexasObserver]

80. Tax breaks have helped you, perhaps in ways you don't know.

I'll give you an example.

There was a tax incentive that kept the housing market alive for about a year. That tax break gave an incentive which allowed many citizens to sell their home, or to buy another home. It was used, and it worked. The result was sales of homes that would not have occurred. Many, many sales. As soon as the tax credit for the home purchase was dropped, sales immediately slumped.

Every time someone moves out of a home, there are trucks involved. Trucks to move things. Trucks for the companies that come to fix things so the sale can go through. And every time someone moves into a home, the same ritual happens. New furniture and appliances are bought, and they're delivered in trucks, too.

You work on trucks that move things, don't you? Pick up trucks. Work trucks.

Some tax incentives work and some are just give aways. It's important to understand how good ones work, and why they're smart. The very thing of which you complain - that tax breaks don't provide you work - is simply not true. Every time someone in South Austin moved, you benefited, because all those trucks need work when they're in use.

[austin78704]

81. Well, no.

"As soon as the tax credit for the home purchase was dropped, sales immediately slumped."* Exactly, because it didn't address the root problem--people have lost income.

Tax breaks do not translate into income. Work does.

If the government (you know, the one we handed to Democrats on a silver platter a couple of years ago) wants to fix the problem, what it needs to provide us with is work, not useless tax breaks. Tax breaks are icing on the cake AFTER the economy is repaired. After all, only people with enough money to pay taxes benefit from having those taxes reduced.

(*) just as soon as those home sales slumped, any benefit I might have felt from those sales dried up just as quickly.

[TexasObserver]

83. Well, yes. Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it's not true.

There are limited ways the government can act. It can loan money, give money away, give tax incentives, or spend money to help create economic activity. Because we have a congress that is elected in 435 districts, there will be some of each kind of action. You don't have to like it or understand it, but that's the way it is.

Instead of being certain you're right, why don't you take the entry level economics and politics courses at your community college? Then you'll have some idea of how it works.

Since you have no idea of how tax breaks have helped your employer, you really have no idea whether they've done you any good at your job or not. Have you seen their tax return? If not, you have no idea how tax breaks may have helped the business keep you employed.

[austin78704]

85. Still no.

"There are limited ways the government can act. It can loan money, give money away, give tax incentives, or spend money to help create economic activity. Because we have a congress that is elected in 435 districts, there will be some of each kind of action. You don't have to like it or understand it, but that's the way it is." I know that. I'm not ignorant of it, but that does not diminish my point that tax breaks do not address the problem.

"Instead of being certain you're right, why don't you take the entry level economics and politics courses at your community college? Then you'll have some idea of how it works." How do you know that I have not? Why are you so certain that you're right? Just how many false pretenses do you rely on each day to support YOUR agenda?

"Since you have no idea of how tax breaks have helped your employer, you really have no idea whether they've done you any good at your job or not. Have you seen their tax return? If not, you have no idea how tax breaks may have helped the business keep you employed." You also have no idea. In fact, you have a whole lot less idea than I do because I at least work here and know the owner, yet you keep pushing the notion that there are unsung benefits and I'm just a dumbass for not seeing them.

I don't think your ideas have any merit, but I'm not going to pretend to know anything about you.

[TexasObserver]

86. As I said, you don't know whether tax breaks have helped your employer and you.

I've suggested you could take some steps to learn.

I'm sure you don't think everyone is competent to fix trucks, and you'd be right about that. Your expertise fixing trucks doesn't mean you know how the economy works. You know whether you have work to do, but not how that work is created.

Why don't you explain your master plan for getting the economy back on track fully?

What would you have the president and congress do to fix it?

[austin78704]

87. But how do you know?

You've suggested those steps because you made the initial assumption that I'm ignorant, but the fact of the matter is that you don't know. What if I have already done what you suggest? The point I'm trying to make is that you've made a whole slew of assumptions based on little to no information. The mere fact that I disagree with you does not mean that I'm ignorant.

You're right that I don't think everyone is competent to work on trucks, but I won't make that assumption about a particular person until I actually see some proof. Not everyone who isn't a mechanic right now has never been a mechanic, either. Not everyone who is a mechanic has always been.

As for what to do: jobs. Jobs will come about only as a result of work. So, the government needs to purchase from the citizens a bunch of work. For example, our schools are crap right now due to overcrowding, rotten structures, lack of materials, and a lack of staff. Rebuild them, fill 'em up with supplies, and if the school districts can't afford to hire enough teachers the federal government can pay the difference so the needed teachers will get hired. Right there, millions of jobs and both short-term and long-term tangible results.

Don't pay people just to be useless. While people are on unemployment, stick all of their names on a list and call them up to do day labor type work whenever needed. Beaches covered in tarballs? Need 15,000 sets of hands? No problem! It gets work done, provides people with experience, and provides people with exposure to possible employers. And since they're being paid anyway whether they do the work or not, that labor is effectively "free" for Uncle Sam. But you'd employ other people for transport, equipment, some training, supervising, supplies, etc. It would also shut up the asshats who claim people on unemployment are just flat lazy.

Michael Moore actually had a good idea to invest in mass transit. That would have huge benefits both short and long-term for everyone. It will have a WPA-style boost to the economy in the short term; and it will reduce our hypersensitivity to gas price fluctuations in the long term. You could curtail the harm such a program would do to automakers by contracting them to build and maintain the transit vehicles.

There will be shitloads of waste, fraud, and abuse all over as a result--that's a given. However, even there we'll win because that "wasted" money still gets into the economy. Certainly not optimal, but way better than spending $220,000+ per job bribing the banking sector.

But the base of all that is work. None of the above involves banks, so it would not be an issue if they were still horribly corrupt.

Yeah, I know it's not politically realistic. But I would have the president and congress try.

Hey, let's test your economic theory. Let's assume for a moment that you run a store selling work clothes. You have no customers. How much tax break would you need to hire more workers and expand? Does the republican support of those tax breaks change anything?

[madokie]

82. Gotta love ya

welcome to DU

rec

[yella_dawg]

84. I worked on a garbage truck once.

It was supposed to be steam cleaned before it was dropped off. Apparently, it had only been washed down with water. The next morning the shop floor was crawling with maggots. We spent half a day sweeping and mopping.

At lunch, I went home to chicken and rice casserole. Thirty five years later, I gag just writing "chicken and rice".

Not tax breaks, but close.