mattmelcher

FDR did and ended the depression. how soon you forget.

our infrastructure is in need of major repairs. why not start another wpa type programs and only hire american citizens. money well spent, and jobs created that pay decent salary.

If the money were there, they'd give it to private contractors - where it belongs - so they could hire more people, buy equipment, buy materials, and fix more roads. We're a little larger than we were during the Depression. We have considerably more roads and bridges than we had during the Depression. We're at a logjam for repairing the infrastructure. Nobody wants to pay another 50 cents a gallon at the pump so there is more money to fix the roads. So whatever the states can afford is what gets fixed.

Starting a WPA-like program will have the same result. SOMEONE has to pay the wages, the benefits, buy the heavy equipment, and the materials. Approximately $1.5 million per mile for total rebuild, last I read. Someone will also have to deal with the unions, who will cry and bitch because the lower-paid government workers are getting all the construction jobs. Something FDR didn't have to deal with.

WWII ended the Great Depression. Maybe we should throw a beating on the Axis of Evil and get the recovery started!

You mentioned more government plans that cost MORE money resulting in MORE taxes!

For the sake of history and for your own research...look up where Clinton shaved off to cause his "surplus"! He decimated the "infrastructure"!

Rick-

I'm sorry. I thought our entry into World War 2 did more to end the depression than any WPA projects. In essence, wasn't the WPA one giant welfare program? The majority of the country was out of work and instead of just feeding them, they came up with 'jobs' so they could give people money. The government figured they might as well get something for all the money they were spending. So now we have a few state parks and some old bridges to show for it.

I sincerely doubt this crumbling infrastructure claim. Where I live EVERY major road in the city is being rebuilt, including both interstate highways; as well as a new state park being built just a cople of miles away. It all sounds very WPA to me. Of course, next year all those 'jobs' will be gone. What to do then?

snowwolf777

i think the same things were said about fdr's plan.

perhaps we could use some of the money we are pissing away killing people in iraq in a losing cause.

perhaps you have a plan to end the massive unemployment here. i'm open to hear something positive.

DrMaddVibe

i knew it was clinton's fault. is the flu i had a few years ago also clinton's fault? i'll bet he even screwed up my garbage disposal last month when it jammed.

Rick, why don't you run into the middle of the street and yell for a government plumber to come over and fix your disposal.

You never answered the question.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=535&ncid=535&e=15&u=/ap/20040808/ap_on_re_eu/russia_compensation_law_1 

Even they can't afford it!

Scream.

I've got an idea, let's elect a democrat and raise everyone's taxes especially those who are already having a tough time making ends meet! After all the government knows best. I think we should just give them all our money and let them decide how much we need. And why we're at it let's elect a billionare afterall he must be in touch with the average Joe. NOT

Yes, Rick, I have a plan. I'm in the trucking industry. Every single carrier in the U.S. is suffering right now from a shortage of drivers. You want job creation? My company has grown by 300 drivers in the past 12 months. We haul for General Motors. You might have heard of them. They had a $1.4 billon profit in the first quarter this year. Because people buy cars, and they always will. A lot of people eat food, too. All of that moves by truck.

We still need more drivers. But we can't get them. You know why? Because a large number of people who go to truck driving school (many on government-sponsored training programs) quit in the first year and go back on welfare or unemployment. Why? Because we use that dirty 4-letter word in our industry: W-O-R-K. I can't tell you how many drivers I see in a year who work long enough to get the lights turned back on and the house payment caught up, and then they quit and go back on unemployment again. Their applications have a decade of driving history for 4 months, 8 months off, 6 months working, 4 months off - on and on. I know a large number of drivers that this is their way of life. But every time they CHOOSE to live like this, they still end up on the unemployment or welfare numbers.

My wife manages a Burger King and she sees the same thing. $10 an hour ain't good enough. They have to work too hard to make that money. So they quit and go back on unemployment or welfare again. They have a want ad 7 days a week, 365 days a year. I guess the President should get off his @ss and "create" high-paying, low effort jobs for all these people, too.

My company hires the year around for driving jobs that pay $650 on the low side to over $1,000 a week once you have some seniority. Union jobs, with benefits. But yes, it is real work.

One of my terminals is in Michael Moore's old back yard - Flint, MI. When Buick City folded, some of the displaced workers took government-paid retraining to learn to drive truck. The vast majority of them went back on welfare and unemployment again, because they didn't make $26 per hour to sit on their @sses and do nothing.

But don't take my word for it - ask JB Hunt or Don Schneider or Moyes over at Swift. Between the three of them they run about 75,000 trucks, and they can't get enough drivers, either.

When my job went away when I was younger, I drove truck for 7 years and made a very good living at it. It wasn't my dream job, but it paid my mortage and took care of my kids. When I grew tired of the road and being gone all the time, I moved into the safety side of the industry and bettered myself. I did that on my own, as opposed to calling the President and demanding he create something for me.

DrMaddVibe

i missed the question.

One more time.....

Rick, just what do you think the government's role is?

Where should it start and where should it end? Womb-Tomb? No personal decisions? No personal responsibilites? Banking? Healthcare? Human Resources? Personal Finance?

Seriously. The government is Santa Claus benders are getting old.

Well, seeing as how I didn't get a response to my question...I'll have to smack my head on my desk a couple of times, dress up like Santa and use the same convoluted logic that he applies to GW...See the market today? WOW! What a President! Look at him go! How high can the market climb? He's gonna take it there.

Now that that foolishness is over...Rick...you gonna answer or WHAT?

maui: careful now -- are you saying we shouldn't elect bush? 'coz he's not exactly a pauper, ya know! 😉

The two richest candidates in this election - by a longshot - are Kerry and Edwards.

But they're still in touch with "the common man." Feeling their pain. Eating PB&J sandwiches and Wendy's fries on the bus.

snowwolf: my brother's been a trucker (hauling fords i believe) for a couple of decades now at least. he made excellent $ doing so, and luckily he didn't suffer from the health problems that many truckers do -- it's rough work just DRIVING a rig. i rode shotgun and worked loading/unloading a rig for a summer; it was one of the most physically demanding jobs i ever had and i've nothing but respect for those who can do it.

however, i do believe that the way the job market as a whole is going is not good. the market varies all over the country, you have to realize. at the same BK restaurants here, a friend of mine can't even get in 10 hours per week -- he's got 2 degrees and can't find work to pay for the student loans now, and he IS one who's willing to "flip burgers" for a living.

so when i think about the job market, i think of people like him -- not the lazy butts who don't want to a job if it means actual work is involved.

i do recognize that there are those people who prefer not working, absolutely. and i absolutely think that america -- or a certain parts of it, generationally -- have a big work ethic problem that needs to be addressed.

fresh out of h.s. at the age of 16, i was able to find a job ALWAYS. i've worked in numerous fields -- some for the experience, some for the enjoyment, some for the pay rate -- and even during economic downturns, i found work: unloading trucks, warehouse work, washing dishes, whatever, until something "better" opened up. i put "better" in quotes, because those blue collar jobs taught me more about a work ethic than any white collar job ever did.

this is a long enough rant, i know. sum it up this way -- i think the govt. has its place in job creation, but it is far from the be-all and end-all solution. people as individuals need to stop trying to live like a pepsi commercial and get on the stick as well.

Great stories--great passion--great thread.

So Rick...are you going to asnswer the question?

You're frothing tirades about mean ol' Mister Bush are about as credible as your reply to the question posed to you 2 times already.

Cavallo - Appreciate the props on truckers. I did it for 7 years. It was the toughest job I ever had. And I, too, have a college degree. But I did what I had to do to take care of my family. And when I went to bed at night, I felt like I had earned every dime of my money.

Perhaps your friend needs to look at relocation. I did that in order to advance myself and it has worked out fine. Not always possible in every situation, I know. But it is a solution in some cases to position yourself where your talents can earn your bread.

Bloody's right - this has turned into a good thread. Shame we couldn't all be sharing a smoke on a deck somewhere.

Hey Charlie,

What happened to those big gains? Is NOW the time to buy?

Oh how I wish I would've sold earlier this year. I'd like to think I should hold on for those gains you were so sure about, but I need this money some time.

So when do you think that next big stock boom will be there, E.F.?

LOL