I WANT them to do nothing

[GreaTOne_65]

Holy Toledo, BA. How can you live with yourself? With that kind of anamosity, you must have a bellyache that's soon to be needing medical attention.

Apparently you've had a run-in with the DOT? Who hasn't? But, I want you to ask yourself, honestly, please? What the hell do you suppose these lam-brain truckers would be drivin' done the road? Bald tires, brakes that don't have any linings on them, hauling 100,000 lb. loads on 80,000 lb. rated trailers? Drivers, that are drivin' on 4 hrs. sleep? Do I really need to say more? Do YOU want your family killed by some dim-wit drivin' a truck like I just discribed?

I don't like some of the things the EPA has done, either. Outlawing R-12, was not the smartest thing they've done. They claimed it was depleting the ozone layer, because of a hole in the ozone layer, over the artic. Problem was, after a few years they discovered the hole was opening and closing on it's own. The other problem I had with that, R-12 is a heavier than air gas, see my problem? Now, on the other side, I want to leave this planet, as good as it was when I leave it. Cleaning the air, for the next generation, should be EVERYONE'S priority, no?

My next question, are you going to tell, us, your going to compare your CHURCH, to the Federal Government?

[dagwud]

When the administrative costs are that out of wack, I agree with Brian. Something is rotten in Des Moines! Maybe it's time for an investigation!?

 I agree something isn't kosher with administrative costs that high.    However the part that really concerns me is when the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services,  the government agency overseeing this high- risk insurance program tells tax payers that 30% administrative costs are not out of line even though other states are doing it for less the 10%.   I simply don't trust the government to have very effective oversight.

Look at the Massey mining disaster last year in West Virginia that resulted in the deaths of 39 miners.  The government workers in charge of overseeing the safety of the mine did not do their jobs.  The Wall Street banking fraud is reported on and red flags are raised yet the government regulators did not do their jobs and now the Justice Dept. refuses to theirs.  Warnings and reds flags were raised about Bernard Madoff's ponzi scheme yet nothing was done.  

Seems our government is good at passing laws and pretty fair at running very large industrial type armies and other branches of the military.  At rest they could use some improvement.  It appears most large government programs come with large amounts of fraud and more then we see in the private sector.  Then even though they know they have large amounts of fraud it seems little is done stop it.  

[BA Deere]

Hey GTO. my point is that tough decesions have to be made all over.  Whether that is taking the ax to government agencies and departments right down to a small Church coming to grips on if it can afford a janitor.   My beef is with the federal DOT that ruled on their own that 300 bushel grain trucks and +26,000 lb pickup/trailer combos must be inspected every yr.  I`m sorry that`s bull sh!t, just a reason for some pr!ck to pull you over.  I agree that a truck hauling 80K loads coast to coast should abide by the laws in place, that is reasonable.  BTW someone 80 yrs old can pull a pickup and Montana trailer over #26,000 with no inspection or medical card, no nothin` just a class C license, but if he hooked up to a livestock trailer the same weight he`d be pulled over, hassled and fined...It`s ridiculous.   I know it`s a state law, but after 0bama got in the Democrat Iowa got a law that only licensed electricians can do even simple wiring in your machine shed that has no one living in it, that is industrial strength stupid and a big money grab$$$$$$  Things gotta change or we`ll all go broke with this stupidity.

[rawhide]

put a rule on me but YOU can work double shifts at the factory(when the economy is good) thats 80 hours if i'm adding correctly. work a half a day on saturday and load the wife, kids,and dog up in the family cruser that you havent had serviced in 9 months because you have been "too busy" at work--and then you blow an underinflated tire on the interstate doing 15mph over the speed limit so you can be at wally world on timeso i swerve to miss your stupid ass and hit the rock wall at 65 and the DOT wants to climb up my ass if i live through the crash?   i love america land of EQUALITY

[Nebrfarmr]

It is my thought that whenever an entity becomes so big, that it has groups of middle managers who's main purpose is keeping busy, or finding reasons to  justify their job, rather than doing it, this sort of crud happens.  Doesn't matter if it is a big corporation who pays their board of directers millions of dollars while the average worker is struggling to scrape by, or government overseers who don't oversee.  Everyone thinks the 'hard' jobs is someone else, and figures 'someone' will do it, and the more people who you have in those sort of positions, the easier it is for corruption, or even just plain laziness to creep in.

Case in point, just one that pops in my head first:  The Wall Street overseers:  There were teams of attourneys, many, if not most, earning $100,000+ salaries.  Their job was to oversee things, to be sure everything was on the up-and-up.  After the collapse, signalling the start of the worst economic downtrun since the Great Depression, their computers were looked into, to see exactly what they were 'overseeing'.  While some were doing their jobs, others were surfing porn, on the government dime (or more accurately, the government's $100,000 worth of dimes), some to the point that the hard drives had no room for anything else, and the 'overflow' was burned onto CDs!  I have yet to hear if any were fired, let alone charged with anything.  My understanding is, there was a whole room full of 'overseers', and the porn surfers more or less figured that 'someone' would be watching what was going on well enough to keep things under control, but had to look 'busy' to justify their high-paying jobs.

[Nebrfarmr]

Instead of firing the government workers that actually WORK, why don't we start with the useless ones?
I'd start with the $100,000+ lawyers that were paid to oversee Wall Street, and investment banks, to be sure proper rules were being followed, but instead were surfing porn.   Last I heard, they didn't fire anyone, but if I heard right, they might have had to give up some bonus pay.

Locally, I'd start with the lady in the courthouse, who spends countless hours making personal calls during business hours, and the guy on the road crew who takes naps during the day, and was nicknamed Mr. "Neverwork".

I think a lot of people would be surprised, how many government jobs could be eliminated, before anyone really noticed.

[GreaTOne_65]

Rawhide, as a man that has had the privilege to sit on both sides of the fence, my hat goes off to the truck drivers, at least most of them. Some of the 4 wheelers out there, with their cell phones glued to their heads, shouldn't be on the roads. But be aware, if your driving a truck, and are involved in an accident, you are already guilty by association. That's why I liked my cab-over truck, so I could see over the traffic, and drive a mile ahead of yourself.

BA, your post revealed a lot about what your state of mind is, and I feel sorry for you. You are a tortured man, mainly by your own choosing. Those people you want fired, were hired to keep others, and yourself safe on the road. They are doing as the LAW, has instructed them. You can do as your doing and internalize it, make it personal, and wage your own little war on them, but all your doing is shortening your own life, stressing about something you can't CHANGE! The LAWS were passed to protect you and the people around you, calm yourself, do what's necessary, and go on!  Your anger is not going to change anything, only you. Time to set back take a deep breath, and start a new direction. There will always be a government, albeit, Republican or Democrat, and believe it or not, even if the party in charge, changes, those same laws your stressing about, ARE STILL GOING TO BE THERE. Lighten up, man!

[rawhide]

that is what  the government agency problem is ---they make a group of people guilty by association so they can gain control of the population. then the politicians,whether it be democrat or republician, can get on tv and argue about how they can solve things when they are the ones that created the problem that the govt. agencies are

[GreaTOne_65]

so they can gain control of the population.

Well sir, that's where you lost me. I had agreed with nearly everything you said, but now you've made a drastic turn to the right, and I don't buy it!

[rawhide]

maybe i phrased that wrong. i believe that some people think that the govt. is the answer to all problems and i don't believe so. there have to be laws written for the good of the nation and its people but what has happened in my opinion is the govt. has assumed the position of a kindergarden teacher and we the people are the kids.