The year the world changed, and no one noticed
Mark Schmitt, in a piece in New Republic, takes note of Paul Ryan’s Medicare proposal to make 1956 the dividing line between two Americas: “Those over 55 will continue to benefit from one of the triumphs of social insurance in the Great Society, while the rest of us will be on our own, with a coupon for private health insurance.”
As a 1956 baby and member of the graduating class of 1974, I stand right on that dividing line. And I was particularly struck by Schmitt’s description of 1974 as a pivot point in American social and economic history:
“Look at almost any historical chart of the American economy, and you see two sharp breaks in the 1970s. First, in 1974, household incomes, which had been rising since World War II, flattened. Real wages started to stagnate. The poverty rate stopped falling. Health insurance coverage stopped rising. Those trends have continued ever since.
Second, a little later in the decade, around the time today’s 55-year-olds graduated from college (if they did—fewer than 30 percent have a four-year degree), inequality began its sharp rise, and the share of national income going to the bottom 40 percent began to fall. Productivity and wages, which had tended to keep pace, began to diverge, meaning that workers began seeing little of the benefits of their own productivity gains. The number of jobs in manufacturing peaked and began to drop sharply. Defined benefit pensions, which provide a secure base of income in retirement, began to give way to 401(k)s and similar schemes that depend on the worker to save and the stock market to perform….
The Ryan plan, in other words, delivers to the older generation exactly what they’ve had all their lives—secure and predictable benefits—and to the next generation, more of what they’ve known—insecurity and risk. “
Personally, I’d take that analysis several steps further. I’d argue that our cultural expectations of the American Dream, our image of the international role played by the United States, our comprehension of how the economy is supposed to work, our understanding of the proper interplay among government, business and individual citizens — they’re all still predicated on the world that existed prior to 1974. As a culture, we haven’t really come to grips with the fact that those expectations and understandings are no longer valid, and haven’t been for a long time. Even Americans too young to have experienced that earlier world firsthand have absorbed the expectations it created among their parents and grandparents.
In fact, that chasm between outdated expectation and modern reality is driving a lot of the political ferment we now see. People sense that things aren’t as they’ve been taught they should be; they just don’t know why. And it’s not about Obama, any more than it was about George W. Bush or Bill Clinton. (The later Clinton years, in fact, can be seen in retrospect as the last gasp of the pre-’74 America, a period in which the old economic order seemed to reassert itself, if all too briefly.)
The transition is bigger than any president or party. Nobody caused it; nobody can stop it. At most we can try to deal with and adjust to it. Unfortunately, I don’t think the Democrats have come to grips with that reality at all — not in their rhetoric, and not in their policy. I think the Republicans have done so only to the extent of blaming it all on government, when in fact much more powerful forces are at work. Both parties are still stuck trying to convince voters that they have the secret to making things as they used to be, and neither has any hope of doing so.
– Jay Bookman
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500 comments Add your comment
MarkV
May 23rd, 2011
7:51 pm
Thulsa Doom @7:37 pm: Keep your advice to yourself, sir. You certainly need it.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
May 23rd, 2011
7:53 pm
Why life is just so much easier when we have a list of who the clueless are. Like those deep in debt. Why I daresay that Donald Trump would have to be clueless….he keeps having casinos that get deep in debt and then he uses bankruptcy laws to shed that debt. Imgaine that. Why he’s even more clueless than those who would have voted for him or the poor guy who falls off the rook and become paralyzed and finds out that his insurer denies coverage because of an alleged preexisting condition that is not applicable or exceeding a lifetime cap.
St Simons - we're on Island time
May 23rd, 2011
7:53 pm
in other news, Mark V is taking out title insurance on Thus a Maroon.
@@
May 23rd, 2011
7:55 pm
The helpless?
How to help Joplin, tornado victims
I’m partial to AmeriCares and The Salvation Army. Everyone here is free to choose their method of delivery.
Mama Says
May 23rd, 2011
7:57 pm
There is a simple answer—-A balanced budget amendment !
As a republican/conservative I will be more than willing to meet libs on oil subsidies, green energy and some medical care issues if you guys will accept that a government by and for the people should not be allowed to take up to 50% of our paychecks in taxes and fees (federal, state, local,sales,ad valorum,permits etc…..)
We need to control what we pay for products/services provided TO the government and stop allowing private businesses to inflate the price charged to government just becasue they can. HAVE GOVERNMENT JUSTIFY SPENDING !
therre are enough savings in subsides alone to pay for 50% of what libs want—-cut those and you can still cut taxes and have medical care (at a lesser cost then Obama can come up with).
Jay, you and others like you have the ball. We can get fired up by your words just as well as your supporters like what you say. But WE will never reach compromise as long as we yell at each other the press likes to say they have a responsibility to report the truth. With Fox and MSNBC the truth is blurred as the press panders to it’s followers point of view.
MOST OF US\ ARE MODERATE. LIBS AND CONSERVATIVES
We can compromise on everything;
No gay marraige (religious ceromony) but civil unions
No abortions (accept in the case of incest, rape and medical emergency) but mandatory adoptions WITHIN the US prior to appoval of OUTSIDE US. Adoptions are open to ALL gay and straight.
Taxes no higher than 20% on business—-but no legal loopholes–it’s a flat no exceptions 20%
no double taxation—if I buy a house and pay 30 years on it it’s mine my son should not have to pay taxes on it again when I die.
War—–absolutely no presidential privledge. Sending troops at a presidents whelm should be a crime–unless it’s an emergency narrowly defined .
Green energy should be THE LAW it makes no difference to me if there is global warming—-don’t pour junk in the air and water–common sence says it’s not healthy.
Term limits on house and senate
no ear marks AT ALL
CAN WE AGREE ON THESE ?
mr_B
May 23rd, 2011
7:58 pm
Josef: Shalom! Is Soros still hiring? I could use the extra bread.
BTW, what system do you work for? My SHBC costs are a long way from negligable.
getalife
May 23rd, 2011
8:01 pm
The right are never right about anything.
The feds are arresting the so called “mafia” of twelve people in Philly as white collar crime spree is raging rampant in the world.
Keep yelling at them world and rise up.
josef nix
May 23rd, 2011
8:02 pm
Mr B
Shalom
The Atlanta Public…
As a matter of fact, Soros IS hiring! In education, too…I’ll get back with you on that…
And with that…gotta run and get stuff together for the little ones’ last day tomorrow…
MarkV
May 23rd, 2011
8:03 pm
RE: Thulsa Doom @May 7:37 pm
“MarkV, Showing your ignorance again? Ever do any reading about medical tourism? There’s a growing movement by Americans to go to places like India for surgeries. I would much rather have a surgery done in India than say Staffordshire hospital in England.”
Facts: Healthcare in India features a universal health care system Government hospitals, some of which are among the best hospitals in India, provide treatment at taxpayer expense. Most essential drugs are offered free of charge in these hospitals. Government hospitals provide treatment either free or at minimal charges
Kamchak
May 23rd, 2011
8:03 pm
Hey. I just figured it out! You can watch MSNBC for your lib news.
Good heavens, no.
Can’t stand that station.
I get my news fromMcClatchy.
Adam
May 23rd, 2011
8:04 pm
Oh if I had a nickel every time…
1) 57 states
No Credit for CiC – IF it’s Obama
2) Austrian/German gaffe
3) Teleprompter
4) Waivers as favors
5) XX% don’t pay income tax
6) Community Organizer
7) police “acted stupidly”
9) Waterboarding being successful
10) liberals fear who they attack
11) personal insults and attacks in general
Any of these disqualifies you from rational discussion. These are talking points, either lies or truth that is essentially useless and doesn’t make your case. Most have to do with ObamaHate, which only works for the base. Good luck convincing Independents with this nonsense.
Also please note, JOBS are not in the list. You know, the thing that gave you a supposed mandate?
I’m sure there’s more to put on this list. This is just the obvious stuff from TODAY.
You guys have NOTHING.
@@
May 23rd, 2011
8:05 pm
For all the good it’s done them, California has a balanced budget amendment. Their state’s constitution has been amended 500 times. They’ve got term limits too.
Mama Says
May 23rd, 2011
8:09 pm
I have no idea how the California constitution is amended however we can demand that it is treated like the U.S. constitution. Meaning 2/3 rd’s of the counties would have to agree to put up an amendment on ANY change—-I can’t see California having that law if it has been amended that many times
Keep Up the Good Fight!
May 23rd, 2011
8:14 pm
And yet, AmRedCross and Salvation Army cannot provide aid without state and federal emergency management agencies.
Kamchak
May 23rd, 2011
8:22 pm
Geez Adam, You just posted 11 squares of my blog BINGO game.
You missed –
ACORN
Fannie/Freddie
Kenyan
Socialist
Long form
# of “I”s in an Obama speech
Jack
May 23rd, 2011
8:24 pm
I didn’t realize that Bookman is just a baby. It’s no wonder his opinions are so sophomoric.
mr_B
May 23rd, 2011
8:24 pm
“And with that…gotta run and get stuff together for the little ones’ last day tomorrow…” from jonix.
An obvious prevarication, since anyone with any “common sense” knows that anyone of the leftier political persuasion in a welfare suckin’ parasite. (Insert one of the cute smiley-thingies here.)
@@
May 23rd, 2011
8:29 pm
The Salvation Army is among the first responders. They’re recognized by the federal government as a disaster relief agency within the NVOAD (National Voluntary Organization Active in Disaster) as well as by FEMA.
Basically, they’ve been approved by the government. That doesn’t mean they’re incapable of functioning without government.
My husband and I went to Sunnyside (north of Griffin) to help with cleanup after the tornado hit there. Did it without government approval. Some government bureaucrats were sitting at a table with forms to be filled out. Weren’t getting much action at their table. Everybody was too busy cleaning up, picking up donated supplies and the like.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
May 23rd, 2011
8:34 pm
@@ — Believe what you want. I am well aware of who the Salvation Army is. You want real information you may want to attend the Emergency Mgmt Association of Georgia conference in Savannah this week to learn how all the pieces of the puzzle fit in and how they support each other. Then tell me how the Salvation Army can do it all alone with volunteers and no support.
jack bull
May 23rd, 2011
8:35 pm
Adam forgot about the Marine Corps(emphasis on the ‘P’)…I guess it should be spelled Marine Corpse. That one was Bush-esque….along with the ‘I’ve been in all 47 states, and have 6 left’…
@@
May 23rd, 2011
8:35 pm
Mama Says:
It’s not my intention to diminish your contribution, however, I have a question.
Who and how many get the blame for failing to balance the budget? What are the consequences?
Mama Says
May 23rd, 2011
8:36 pm
As a basic conservative I can assure you the working man & women of my ilk ARE NOT sitting around hoping big business gets a tax break—–On the flip side I cannot believe that working class libs are sitting around hoping the government raises taxes.
Soothsayer
May 23rd, 2011
8:37 pm
Let us balance the budget. Here are some good starting points.
Adam
May 23rd, 2011
8:40 pm
Kamchak, Jack: Good ones! Yes I did forget those, except for the state count one
Mama Says
May 23rd, 2011
8:42 pm
they all get the blame. the last 10 years have been dominated by two presidents and both parties–the debt has done nothing but increase due to continued spending and lack of balance.
I promise government of either party, will increase as long as me let them. Republicans would agrue for a 80% while the libs would want 90% and both would spend as if they got 100%
Soothsayer
May 23rd, 2011
8:42 pm
“An obvious prevarication (lie), since anyone with any “common sense” knows that anyone of the leftier political persuasion in a welfare suckin’ parasite.”
I can assure you that joseph nix is not a welfare suckin’ parasite, but, instead is a very successful teacher who has no need of welfare nor your cheap shots.
Mama Says
May 23rd, 2011
8:45 pm
I will ask you this what are the remifications of opreating your household with an unbalanced budget.
If I or you spend $500 a month on a car when I make $ 450 a month I go in the hole $ 50 each month.
Soothsayer
May 23rd, 2011
8:47 pm
Mama says @ 7:57: I don’t believe that you spend 50% of your gross income on taxes at whatever level. Care to give us a breakout?
Kamchak
May 23rd, 2011
8:48 pm
Sooth
mr_b’s 8:24 was sarcasm.
Soothsayer
May 23rd, 2011
8:50 pm
Kamchak: thanks for the heads up! Can’t tell the players without a program!
Mama Says
May 23rd, 2011
8:51 pm
Sorry I split my post——If I am 50 down each month I cannot buy the other things I need so I go without. By the time I pay my car off–5 years later I have created a $ 3000 debt on my earnings. I will spend the next 5 tears limiting what I buy b/c I have to pay my accumulated debt down. Add interest and that debt burden increases thereby extending the time it takes me to pay it off. This in turn limits my buying power throughout the timeline===my entire family loses to my debt
Keep Up the Good Fight!
May 23rd, 2011
8:53 pm
Mama Says….did you pay cash for your home or did you get a loan?
Soothsayer
May 23rd, 2011
8:55 pm
Mama says: how much have you had to drink tonight?
Soothsayer
May 23rd, 2011
9:00 pm
Well, just damn! I’m in a shyte-kicking mood and ready to rumble and all the rightie roaches have gone home! See ya tomorrow, losers. BTW, watch for the results from NY-26 tomorrow. It will foretell your chances in the House in 2012!
Mama Says
May 23rd, 2011
9:02 pm
See sooth it’s people like you—stay focused please.
I will give it a try though.
I am taxed at 15 % of my earnings after deductions
I paid 7$ of it to the state that’s 22%
I paid $ 4000 in taxes on my home–i’ll put that at about 5% that = 27%
I paid for tags on 2 cars, I will give that 1 % = 28%–I paid taxes on the purchase of one of them
I paid 15 % on my investments= 43%
I had to get a permit to up a garage $ 300
I had to get a permit to empty my septic tank $ 400
—-I have to admit the math may be a little off but the point is that it IS WAY TO MUCH to the government. and oh yeah
I paid approx. 30 cents on each dollar of gas I bought in taxes
AmVet
May 23rd, 2011
9:02 pm
“mr_b’s 8:24 was sarcasm.”
Either that or he was channeling USMC.
That TruthBeGone and Jack are real gems, huh? They both need to be waterboarded. Just for sport…
@@
May 23rd, 2011
9:03 pm
Mama Says:
they all get the blame.
And the consequences? We shut ‘em down? Fire ‘em? Dock their pay? Send ‘em to prison?
Heck! The dems promised “PayGo”. Their commitment to that didn’t last long.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
May 23rd, 2011
9:05 pm
If he was channeling he forgot the Obama will lose in 2012 because [fox talking point] has sealed his fate line
TaxPayer
May 23rd, 2011
9:06 pm
They both need to be waterboarded. Just for sport…
You might have the makings of a new compassionate conservative reality teevee show.
Mama Says
May 23rd, 2011
9:07 pm
I got a loan——-sooth I am not drinking but You may cause me to do it.
help me out—why must I be wrong.
Am I not paying enough of to much. Am I to liberal or to conservative
Soothsayer
May 23rd, 2011
9:11 pm
Mama says: please pull out your 2010 income tax returns and divide your tax by your adjusted gross income and tell what you arrive at. The top GA tax rate is 6%. You are making shyte up! Tell us what your effective tax rate is. If $4,000.00 is 5% of your earnings that means you make $80,000.00 a year. I do not believe that your paid 50% of your $80,000.00 earnings in taxes. Remember that Social Security and Medicare are trust payments that benefit you when you get older (Ryan notwithstanding), Please share with us all what your effective tax rate is.
Soothsayer
May 23rd, 2011
9:11 pm
“I got a loan——-sooth I am not drinking but You may cause me to do it.
help me out—why must I be wrong.
Am I not paying enough of to (sp) much. Am I to (sp) liberal or to (sp) conservative.”
I was sincerely hoping that you were drunk. Since you are not drunk it appears that you lack intelligence.
Kamchak
May 23rd, 2011
9:11 pm
They both need to be waterboarded.
NO!
Nobody needs to be water boarded.
We are better than that.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
May 23rd, 2011
9:12 pm
I had to get a permit to up a garage $ 300
Depends on which county you are in in Georgia (not all counties require permits) but since you had a permit, you paid for the inspection and a CO. Your contractor had to be state licensed and the permit was also to assure that the contractor would be responsible for any code violations.
I suppose you wanted all of this for free or did you want those who were not building garages to pay for this?
LBJ fan
May 23rd, 2011
9:13 pm
‘74 was the year the bills for Viet Nam (Veet Nam as LBJ referred to it) started coming due. It was in fact a tipping point.
Jay little sissy lefties of your ilk deserve nothing so stop whining. Get a real job and contribute something worthwhile to society.
Good little liberal
May 23rd, 2011
9:13 pm
TaxPayer
“You might have the makings of a new compassionate conservative reality teevee show.”
Or a new show about practical jokes or mild fraternity hazings.
Good little liberal
May 23rd, 2011
9:16 pm
Kamchak
Talk to a real war vet about what they were willing to do to save the lives of their buddies. Push the first two out of the door of the helicopter and then interrogate the third. He is usually much more willing to talk.
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 23rd, 2011
9:17 pm
The 1974 dividing line is an interesting one. !973-74 is when Atlanta/north GA had it’s last big construction bubble meltdown. It wasn’t quite as bad as this past one but it was close. The major difference was that that one was mainly overbuilding of office parks and apartment complexes, as opposed to single family houses. In those days, before banking de-regulation, you still had to have a downpayment and there were no variable rate mortgages.
Soothsayer
May 23rd, 2011
9:20 pm
“‘74 was the year the bills for Viet Nam (Veet Nam as LBJ referred to it) started coming due. It was in fact a tipping point.
Jay little sissy lefties of your ilk deserve nothing so stop whining. Get a real job and contribute something worthwhile to society.”
1971 was the year that the U.S. went off the gold standard and began to print money with gusto. Hence, the inflation that was to follow. And, of course, Jimmy Carter was the convenient whipping boy.
What is it with “conservatives.” You think no one else in the entire country works and makes a living but you? Get real.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
May 23rd, 2011
9:20 pm
HD…you forgot the S&L bust in the mid-1980’s.
Mama Says
May 23rd, 2011
9:20 pm
@@ –thats what I am saying.
L
WE Libs and Conservatives have to demand compromise as moderates. We have to throw out the extremes on both sides
but in order to do that WE ALL have to get involved AND I MEAN ALL.
Think about this we saw what 63% of the voters turn out when Obama was elected. The media went crazy about the turnout but keep in mind that was 63% OF THE REGISTERED VOTERS. If there are 300,000 citizens in this country, if approx. 114,000 voted what did the other 200,000 do ?
Mama Says
May 23rd, 2011
9:22 pm
I am talkin millions not hundred thousand
RW-(the original)
May 23rd, 2011
9:23 pm
watch for the results from NY-26 tomorrow. It will foretell your chances in the House in 2012!
And probably the exact same foretelling that NY-23 was in 2009 when all the lefties were telling us that one spelled GOP doom for 2010. Yawn
Soothsayer
May 23rd, 2011
9:25 pm
“And probably the exact same foretelling that NY-23 was in 2009 when all the lefties were telling us that one spelled GOP doom for 2010. Yawn”
Let us wait and see. If the Republicans can’t win the most Republican district in the entire country, then it doesn’t look good for 2012.
Good little liberal
May 23rd, 2011
9:26 pm
Mama Says
Great point, but your numbers were missing three zeros. We have 300,000,000 people.
Turnout for this one is going to be pretty dismal. Blacks have been hit hardest by the Obama economy. Hispanics have watched Obama kick the immigration can down the road, Young people coming out of college are facing unemployment and hyper-inflation. Jews are looking at his recent speeches throwing Israel under the bus. His base has been decimated.
I’m not saying that they are going to be voting for the Republicans, but the spark that made them turn out in record numbers is definitely glowing much less than it was in 2008.
AmVet
May 23rd, 2011
9:27 pm
Of course, Kam is correct.
We are better than that.
(Well, most of us…)
Good little liberal
May 23rd, 2011
9:29 pm
AmVet
I guess most of you would have rather that bin Laden would still be alive.
RW-(the original)
May 23rd, 2011
9:29 pm
If the Republicans can’t win the most Republican district in the entire country
NY-26 has held pretty steady at R +6. That’s not even on the radar screen of the most Republican district in the country.
Kamchak
May 23rd, 2011
9:32 pm
Kamchak
Talk to a real war vet about…
You mean like former Master Instructor and Chief of Training at the US Navy Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape School (SERE), Malcolm Nance?
Sure, why not?
The carnival-like he-said, she-said of the legality of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques has become a form of doublespeak worthy of Catch-22. Having been subjected to them all, I know these techniques, if in fact they are actually being used, are not dangerous when applied in training for short periods. However, when performed with even moderate intensity over an extended time on an unsuspecting prisoner – it is torture, without doubt. Couple that with waterboarding and the entire medley not only “shock the conscience” as the statute forbids -it would terrify you. Most people can not stand to watch a high intensity kinetic interrogation. One has to overcome basic human decency to endure watching or causing the effects. The brutality would force you into a personal moral dilemma between humanity and hatred. It would leave you to question the meaning of what it is to be an American.
Kamchak
May 23rd, 2011
9:34 pm
Oops. Dropped the link.
Mama Says
May 23rd, 2011
9:35 pm
Good fight–you have to be kidding right ?
You may wish to see my house and the building defects that the county passed. You may wish to check with the others in your area and see if they feel confident that their inspector did his or her job.— Permit money well spent !
Sooth — I will not dig through my file cabinet to answer your questions. As I sit here I am estimating–LIKE I TOLD YOU I WAS DOING.
You faill at your assumptions however. You did not figure in the various jobs that people hold and how they are paid. You assume, for the sake of your argument, that I will get social security before I am 70 if at all and you assume that medicare and medicaid will be properly funded or accepted when I get into my twilight. With your assumptions you ignore facts.
As I said I was estimating . You are stating facts as they exsist in your head/world
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 23rd, 2011
9:36 pm
Keep
I don’t remember the S&L failure in the 80’s, as affecting construction around here as bad as 73/74 or our recent meltdown. I’m on the long side of the 1955 split, though, so maybe my memory is failing.
Along in the late 80’s is when the Gwinnett boom got going. They were paying $7 an hour to work in fast food places there, due to the shortage of labor there. I forget what the minimum wage was at the time but that was pretty good money for that type of work.
Mama Says
May 23rd, 2011
9:36 pm
Sooth do you sit at home wishing you could pay more taxes ?
by the way if you paid any attention to my post you saw that I proposed lower taxes and the elimination of loopholes—deductions are loopholes
TaxPayer
May 23rd, 2011
9:37 pm
The secret to a Republican win (keep this a secret whatever you do) is for the Republicans to push that Ryan roadmap and to make sure that they emphasize its key points:
1. Medicare will be replaced by a voucher system so the old geezers can fend for themselves,
2. Medicaid will be eliminated and those folks can learn how to ask for charity,
3. Food stamps will be replaced with a poster covering the proper techniques for beggars,
4. All the money saved will be given to the wealthiest as another vote-buying tax cut,
5. More money will be borrowed so more tax cuts can be given to the wealthiest,
6. The national debt will increase by trillions more but it can be blamed on lazy people choosing not to work and bring the unemployment rate down to the required 2.8% so the tax cuts would pay for themselves. It’s all the fault of the poor, lazy bums out there.
Anyway, those are the key points and they’re bound to generate the desired votes for the Republicans.
@@
May 23rd, 2011
9:37 pm
Mama Says:
What were the others doing? I’d say anywhere from 17 to 20% were goofin’ off. They’re kids…it’s what they do.
Disgusted
May 23rd, 2011
9:40 pm
IBM’s Watson Makes the Move From Answering Trivia Questions to Making Medical Diagnoses
Has it learned how to bill $150 for a three-minute drop-in hospital visit that merely includes observation but no check of vitals or conversation with the patient? If not, Watson has a ways to go to become qualified as an American physician.
Soothsayer
May 23rd, 2011
9:40 pm
RW-you haven’t seen today’s results with Hochul and 42% to Corwin’s 38%.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
May 23rd, 2011
9:40 pm
HD…. Fulton Federal, Great Southern and an number of others locally. Portman had difficulties. Creation of RTC. But I agree the recent meltdown makes that appear a blip. The difference was not a securitization issue with Wall Street fraud.
Midori
May 23rd, 2011
9:43 pm
Taxxie,
it’s as if they live in Bizarro World.
Sooth – Lawrence O’Donnell did a report on that race. The Tea Party guy is losing votes, but they are all going to the Dem.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
May 23rd, 2011
9:44 pm
Mama Says…so you expect a complete inspection by building inspectors who have to average 1 inspection every 3 minutes in, oh say, Cobb County during the height of the boom, including drive time. Or you whining now about not paying what a real inspection would cost or the failure of some contractors to provide quality because of a lack of regulation enforcement or perhaps the quality of many of the workers hired (some illegally) but not properly trained. Why I do declare the free market protections did not work for you?
Kamchak
May 23rd, 2011
9:44 pm
Hey Keep — how’s the healing process goin’?
RW-(the original)
May 23rd, 2011
9:46 pm
RW-you haven’t seen today’s results with Hochul and 42% to Corwin’s 38%
Soother,
Am I to assume you have no idea what R +6 means? It would be and looks like it might be an upset tomorrow, but it hardly holds the earth shaking meaning you’re trying to assign it.
@@
May 23rd, 2011
9:48 pm
A friend of mine over in Fayetteville just had to have her septic system redone to the tune of $12,000. Four others in her subdivision to follow. Why?
Because the original inspectors screwed up.
What would we do without the gift of government inspectors?
Keep Up the Good Fight!
May 23rd, 2011
9:48 pm
Thanks for asking Kam…over 2 months now and finally most are closed but still healing. Be a couple of months to see if the scars on the face will need surgery. And I have one fingernail still hanging so still 9 finger typing. All in all not bad.
Mama Says
May 23rd, 2011
9:49 pm
@@–don’t know if you were being sarcastic or not but according to the census 61 million were 14 or younger in 2008–approx 244 million were older then 15—so the math would say that about 70 million people of the 300 million could not vote.
I say agin what did the 120 million do ?
Don't Tread
May 23rd, 2011
9:51 pm
“Both parties are still stuck trying to convince voters that they have the secret to making things as they used to be, and neither has any hope of doing so.”
But tomorrow’s column will be different. Voting Democrat will be the answer to all the country’s woes….again.
Kamchak
May 23rd, 2011
9:52 pm
A friend of mine over in Fayetteville just had to have her septic system redone to the tune of $12,000. Four others in her subdivision to follow. Why?
Shoddy construction.
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 23rd, 2011
9:52 pm
When I was working construction, inspections were pretty simple. If the inspector liked my boss, he’d sign off without ever getting out of his car. Just fill out the paper work and post it. If the inspector didn’t like my boss, they’d spend half a day and pick it to death.
In my own county, had a friend whose daughter bought a new house (this has been 10-15 years ago) and when they went to plug in the phones, none of them would work. They crawled under the house to have a look, and all the phone lines were hanging loose, not connected to anything. While they were under there, they also noticed that the main electrical entrance cable had been spliced and taped together. That house passed inspection.
AmVet
May 23rd, 2011
9:53 pm
“I guess most of you would have rather that bin Laden would still be alive.”
Most of who?
Most of me?
At any rate, don’t be an idiot.
Or do…
Keep Up the Good Fight!
May 23rd, 2011
9:54 pm
Why do you blame the government inspectors and not the contractors who installed the systems improperly? Or an if it has been over 8 years, remember the statute of repose protects that contractor because we dont want lawyers to be suing contractors on behalf of homeowners to get what the contractor charged for but failed to provide….. thats free enterprise.
Kamchak
May 23rd, 2011
9:55 pm
Keep — facial surgery?
As in reconstructive?
Damn.
Your commitment to animal rescue is to be commended.
TaxPayer
May 23rd, 2011
9:55 pm
Because the original inspectors screwed up.
What would we do without the gift of government inspectors?
Are you saying that the septic system installers changed from a system that would have worked to one that failed based on the inspector’s work.
Jay
May 23rd, 2011
9:56 pm
Actually, Don’t Tread, I don’t think either party has the answer or solution. However, I do think the Democrats are a lot closer to diagnosing what the problem actually is. The Republicans are off in their alternative reality, and I hope they return to this one sometime in my lifetime.
Mama Says
May 23rd, 2011
9:56 pm
Good fight
so let me see–you brought up the fact that I have to pay for inspectors to keep me safe, I point out that they don’t do that and I still pay the fee—so your response is that they spend less that 3 mins in each house—didn’t you prove that the goverment is just taking my money for no real purpose ?
Nothing about that proves your argument–you have proven my point. The government will take take take and waste waste waste ====you like that system then you live with it but since it’s your system you pay for it and let me just keep my money, build my house and take care of myself
Keep Up the Good Fight!
May 23rd, 2011
9:57 pm
And remember in GA, if the contractor thinks the county inspectors are too slow, the contractor can use a private inspector….now that is real protection! Especially when the inspector misses a load bearing wall in a home and then later represents the contractor when the homeowner files a warranty claim because her floors are sinking.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
May 23rd, 2011
10:00 pm
A friend of mine over in Fayetteville just had to have her septic system redone to the tune of $12,000.
Well, in my part of Forsyth County we deal with big bills like that by building a outhouse. It’s pretty easy. You dig a hole about 6 feet deep and four feet square. Then you put together a little building with a seat that has a hole in it and the whole thing fits on top of the hole. You can make it as fancy as you like but it won’t even come close to costing $12,000.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
May 23rd, 2011
10:01 pm
Mama Says…no i proved you got the minimum govt service you paid for which did not include inspection only but you failed to comprehend what you paid for….and yet you seem to think that you somehow could have monitored and had construction done better. Good luck with that.
Gordon
May 23rd, 2011
10:01 pm
Nice article, but just a long way of saying we’ve run out of money. We can either face that fact or get run over by a train.
Kamchak
May 23rd, 2011
10:01 pm
…let me just keep my money, build my house and take care of myself
Geez….
Mama Says
May 23rd, 2011
10:02 pm
Hillbilly,
I have a back deck, no footings were poured for the support columns during the building. The inspector would not issue a certificate of occupancy.
Two days later there appeared to be footings, the inpector passed the deck. My deck is now rotten at the footings—-why cause the builder simply poured concrete around the supports that were in place WHEN IT FAILED. The inspector never checked it—now I have to have my deck fixed.
THANK GOD MY TAXES PAID FOR THE INSPECTION–RIGHT
@@
May 23rd, 2011
10:03 pm
Kamchak:
It had nothing to do with the construction. The inspector (health, I think) signed off on the septic tank. Something about the soil, a nearby pond, insufficient lines. The house itself is well constructed.
Building inspectors are a joke.
My neighbor was allowed to build in a flood plain. The inspector said his property passed the perk test. I could make pots out of what’s under his lawn. It’s dense, gray clay
Although we had to pay for the permit, our inspector told us we could do our own perk test. Said he’d be back to check it later. Never showed up…signed off on it anyway.
Government inspectors getting paid for mistakes or no work at all.
It’s amazing!
Hillbilly Deluxe
May 23rd, 2011
10:04 pm
Actually, I asked a county inspector about an outhouse, just out of curiousity. According to him, at least in some counties, they are legal but they have their own set of codes and inspections. I don’t think Forsyth is one of those counties, though.
Mama Says
May 23rd, 2011
10:06 pm
Kam it just kills you to think about life w/o the government dosen’t it ?
The constitution says nothing about permits and building inspectors does it ? If I build it I am paying the insurance on it—not you, when it fails I will rebuild it–not you right ?
jm
May 23rd, 2011
10:06 pm
“The Republicans are off in their alternative reality, and I hope they return to this one sometime in my lifetime.”
Funny, I see it the other way around.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
May 23rd, 2011
10:08 pm
Mam Says…. you got concrete footings. Nothing says you had to get best practices. Remember code is minimum. If you accept minimum, you are a poor consumer in a free market. So why did you not protect yourself and get the contractor to complete the work properly in a good and workmanlike manner as required by your contract? You did a great job of protecting yourself.
jm
May 23rd, 2011
10:08 pm
Fact: 50% of the US Economy is now government spending or transfers that go through the government. Not a recipe for prosperity.
jm
May 23rd, 2011
10:08 pm
QE2 Has Created a Massive New Bubble
It turns out the program has created maybe 700,000 full-time jobs — at a cost of around $850,000 each.
http://www.smartmoney.com/invest/markets/qe2-has-created-a-massive-new-bubble-1306181465050/?link=SM_hp_ls4e
Oh goody. Thanks Ben.
Mama Says
May 23rd, 2011
10:08 pm
In my county you have to get a permit to build a privacy fence. One of you libs tell me that is for safety please.
Now I know it’s so the county can monitor my home improvements and raise my taxes but go ahead tell me how good it is for me
jm
May 23rd, 2011
10:09 pm
Currently playing on jm’s computer. Awesome……………..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXlAHli0jAQ
jm
May 23rd, 2011
10:10 pm
oh, BTW, gotta get pass the 1:33 mark on it too…..