'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few decades'.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think
about why the workers werent working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills theyd receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open

Agree/disagree.....Opinions?

On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 05:34:06 +0100, Bod wrote:

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few decades'.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think
about why the workers werent working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills theyd receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open

Agree/disagree.....Opinions?

Other than the inaccuracies I suppose it is OK.
Maybe Mikey should spend more time in Flyover land.
I called my village about a pot hole in the road, they were out there
the next day, cut out about 5 feet of road, edge to edge, fixed the
drain pipe that caused it and repaved it 3 days later when the
concrete on the pipe had set.
RE commissions are typically 3-3.5%.
Construction is booming here, even during the Covid.
I agree the health insurance is high but the government is making that
worse, not better and the lawyers are a big part of the problem.

On 09/08/2020 06:06, wrote:
On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 05:34:06 +0100, Bod wrote:

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few decades'.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think
about why the workers werent working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills theyd receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open

Agree/disagree.....Opinions?

Other than the inaccuracies I suppose it is OK.
Maybe Mikey should spend more time in Flyover land.
I called my village about a pot hole in the road, they were out there
the next day, cut out about 5 feet of road, edge to edge, fixed the
drain pipe that caused it and repaved it 3 days later when the
concrete on the pipe had set.
RE commissions are typically 3-3.5%.
Construction is booming here, even during the Covid.
I agree the health insurance is high but the government is making that
worse, not better and the lawyers are a big part of the problem.

Fair enough.

On 09/08/2020 06:07, Bod wrote:
On 09/08/2020 06:06, wrote:
On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 05:34:06 +0100, Bod wrote:

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few
decades'.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think
about why the workers werent working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills theyd receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open


Agree/disagree.....Opinions?

Other than the inaccuracies I suppose it is OK.
Maybe Mikey should spend more time in Flyover land.
I called my village about a pot hole in the road, they were out there
the next day, cut out about 5 feet of road, edge to edge, fixed the
drain pipe that caused it and repaved it 3 days later when the
concrete on the pipe had set.
RE commissions are typically 3-3.5%.
Construction is booming here, even during the Covid.
I agree the health insurance is high but the government is making that
worse, not better and the lawyers are a big part of the problem.

Fair enough.

What about the Rust Belt? Seems pretty grim.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt#:~:text="Rust%20Belt"%20is%20an%20inform al,industrial%20decline%20starting%20around%201980 .&text=Rust%20refers%20to%20the%20deindustrializat ion,its%20once-powerful%20industrial%20sector.

On 09/08/2020 06:14, Bod wrote:
On 09/08/2020 06:07, Bod wrote:
On 09/08/2020 06:06, wrote:
On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 05:34:06 +0100, Bod wrote:

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few
decades'.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think
about why the workers werent working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills theyd receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open


Agree/disagree.....Opinions?

Other than the inaccuracies I suppose it is OK.
Maybe Mikey should spend more time in Flyover land.
I called my village about a pot hole in the road, they were out there
the next day, cut out about 5 feet of road, edge to edge, fixed the
drain pipe that caused it and repaved it 3 days later when the
concrete on the pipe had set.
RE commissions are typically 3-3.5%.
Construction is booming here, even during the Covid.
I agree the health insurance is high but the government is making that
worse, not better and the lawyers are a big part of the problem.

Fair enough.

What about the Rust Belt? Seems pretty grim.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt#:~:text="Rust%20Belt"%20is%20an%20inform al,industrial%20decline%20starting%20around%201980 .&text=Rust%20refers%20to%20the%20deindustrializat ion,its%20once-powerful%20industrial%20sector.

Ah! reading that Wiki further, it does say that improvements are being
made in those areas.

Bod wrote

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and government,
the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few decades'.

Bull****. We will either get a vaccine for this virus,
or it will die out like SARS did, or we will end up
with herd immunity eventually. There is no way that
the US will end up resembling a developing nation.

Even the worst of the schools wont either.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think about
why the workers werent working,

But ended up with one of the lowest unemployment
rates in the modern first world anyway.

then wondered why roads and buildings took so long to finish.

Hardly the end of civilisation as we know it.

They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills theyd receive.

Not when they had health insurance they didnt.

They paid 6% real-estate commissions, never realizing that Australians
were paying 2%.

A small part of the cost of a new house
and they can obviously afford it.

They grumbled about high taxes

Which are in fact one of the lowest percentages
of GDP in the modern first world.

and high health-insurance premiums

They dont care when their employer pays for that.

and potholed roads,

Everyone does, even in england.

but rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

But which has other real downsides like much higher
tax levels like are universal in western europe.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open

Agree/disagree.....Opinions?

I gave up on those, they just make my head hurt.

On 09/08/2020 06:52, %% wrote:
Bod wrote

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few decades'.

Bull****. We will either get a vaccine for this virus,
or it will die out like SARS did, or we will end up
with herd immunity eventually. There is no wayÂ* that
the US will end up resembling a developing nation.

Even the worst of the schools wont either.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think
about why the workers werent working,

But ended up with one of the lowest unemployment
rates in the modern first world anyway.

then wondered why roads and buildings took so long to finish.

Hardly the end of civilisation as we know it.

They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills theyd receive.

Not when they had health insurance they didnt.

They paid 6% real-estate commissions, never realizing that Australians
were paying 2%.

A small part of the cost of a new house
and they can obviously afford it.

They grumbled about high taxes

Which are in fact one of the lowest percentages
of GDP in the modern first world.

and high health-insurance premiums

They dont care when their employer pays for that.

and potholed roads,

Everyone does, even in england.

but rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that
worked better.

But which has other real downsides like much higher
tax levels like are universal in western europe.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open


Agree/disagree.....Opinions?

I gave up on those, they just make my head hurt.

:-) Ok, thanks for your input.

"Bod" wrote in message
...
On 09/08/2020 06:07, Bod wrote:
On 09/08/2020 06:06, wrote:
On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 05:34:06 +0100, Bod wrote:

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few
decades'.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think
about why the workers werent working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills theyd receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open

Agree/disagree.....Opinions?

Other than the inaccuracies I suppose it is OK.
Maybe Mikey should spend more time in Flyover land.
I called my village about a pot hole in the road, they were out there
the next day, cut out about 5 feet of road, edge to edge, fixed the
drain pipe that caused it and repaved it 3 days later when the
concrete on the pipe had set.
RE commissions are typically 3-3.5%.
Construction is booming here, even during the Covid.
I agree the health insurance is high but the government is making that
worse, not better and the lawyers are a big part of the problem.

Fair enough.

What about the Rust Belt? Seems pretty grim.

There will always be some of that in any modern first
world country as some industry stops being viable.

It even happens in France even tho you lot pay a lot more
for your food to prop up very inefficient French farmers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt#:~:text="Rust%20Belt"%20is%20an%20inform al,industrial%20decline%20starting%20around%201980 .&text=Rust%20refers%20to%20the%20deindustrializat ion,its%20once-powerful%20industrial%20sector.

On 09/08/2020 07:01, %% wrote:


"Bod" wrote in message
...
On 09/08/2020 06:07, Bod wrote:
On 09/08/2020 06:06, wrote:
On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 05:34:06 +0100, Bod wrote:

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few
decades'.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think
about why the workers werent working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills theyd receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open


Agree/disagree.....Opinions?

Other than the inaccuracies I suppose it is OK.
Maybe Mikey should spend more time in Flyover land.
I called my village about a pot hole in the road, they were out there
the next day, cut out about 5 feet of road, edge to edge, fixed the
drain pipe that caused it and repaved it 3 days later when the
concrete on the pipe had set.
RE commissions are typically 3-3.5%.
Construction is booming here, even during the Covid.
I agree the health insurance is high but the government is making that
worse, not better and the lawyers are a big part of the problem.

Fair enough.

What about the Rust Belt? Seems pretty grim.

There will always be some of that in any modern first
world country as some industry stops being viable.

It even happens in France even tho you lot pay a lot more
for your food to prop up very inefficient French farmers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt#:~:text="Rust%20Belt"%20is%20an%20inform al,industrial%20decline%20starting%20around%201980 .&text=Rust%20refers%20to%20the%20deindustrializat ion,its%20once-powerful%20industrial%20sector.


Ok.

On Sun, 09 Aug 2020 01:06:46 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 05:34:06 +0100, Bod wrote:

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few decades'.

The U.S.’s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didn’t even think
about why the workers weren’t working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills they’d receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open

Agree/disagree.....Opinions?

Other than the inaccuracies I suppose it is OK.
Maybe Mikey should spend more time in Flyover land.
I called my village about a pot hole in the road, they were out there
the next day, cut out about 5 feet of road, edge to edge, fixed the
drain pipe that caused it and repaved it 3 days later when the
concrete on the pipe had set.
RE commissions are typically 3-3.5%.
Construction is booming here, even during the Covid.
I agree the health insurance is high but the government is making that
worse, not better and the lawyers are a big part of the problem.

You're lucky regarding the RE commissions. Up in the Florida panhandle
they're still 6%, same as the rest of the country.

On 8/9/20 3:13 AM, Jim Joyce wrote:
On Sun, 09 Aug 2020 01:06:46 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 05:34:06 +0100, Bod wrote:

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few decades'.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think
about why the workers werent working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills theyd receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open

Agree/disagree.....Opinions?
Other than the inaccuracies I suppose it is OK.
Maybe Mikey should spend more time in Flyover land.
I called my village about a pot hole in the road, they were out there
the next day, cut out about 5 feet of road, edge to edge, fixed the
drain pipe that caused it and repaved it 3 days later when the
concrete on the pipe had set.
RE commissions are typically 3-3.5%.
Construction is booming here, even during the Covid.
I agree the health insurance is high but the government is making that
worse, not better and the lawyers are a big part of the problem.
You're lucky regarding the RE commissions. Up in the Florida panhandle
they're still 6%, same as the rest of the country.


You don't *need* a real estate agent to sell a house.Â* Show it yourself and have a lawyer do the paperwork.

On 8/9/20 12:34 AM, Bod wrote:
'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few decades'.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to. Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think about why the workers werent working, then wondered why roads and buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and enormous bills theyd receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions, never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open

Agree/disagree.....Opinions?


True!

Ambitious people build stuff, others riot loot and burn stuff down.

On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 06:14:40 +0100, Bod wrote:

On 09/08/2020 06:07, Bod wrote:
On 09/08/2020 06:06, wrote:
On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 05:34:06 +0100, Bod wrote:

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few
decades'.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think
about why the workers werent working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills theyd receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open


Agree/disagree.....Opinions?

Other than the inaccuracies I suppose it is OK.
Maybe Mikey should spend more time in Flyover land.
I called my village about a pot hole in the road, they were out there
the next day, cut out about 5 feet of road, edge to edge, fixed the
drain pipe that caused it and repaved it 3 days later when the
concrete on the pipe had set.
RE commissions are typically 3-3.5%.
Construction is booming here, even during the Covid.
I agree the health insurance is high but the government is making that
worse, not better and the lawyers are a big part of the problem.

Fair enough.

What about the Rust Belt? Seems pretty grim.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt#:~:text="Rust%20Belt"%20is%20an%20inform al,industrial%20decline%20starting%20around%201980 .&text=Rust%20refers%20to%20the%20deindustrializat ion,its%20once-powerful%20industrial%20sector.

There is a reason they call it the rust belt. We shipped most of our
manufacturing offshore or to right to work states and those bloated
union salaries are not competitive anymore. Car companies are not
going to pay a high school graduate line worker $80k a year to do some
menial task several hundred times a day when a Mexican, a guy in
Tennessee or a robot can do it much cheaper.
I was reading the other day that you can't even blame the Mexican or
the Hillbilly for most of the decline, it is the robots.

On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 06:21:02 +0100, Bod wrote:

On 09/08/2020 06:14, Bod wrote:
On 09/08/2020 06:07, Bod wrote:
On 09/08/2020 06:06, wrote:
On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 05:34:06 +0100, Bod wrote:

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few
decades'.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think
about why the workers werent working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills theyd receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open


Agree/disagree.....Opinions?

Other than the inaccuracies I suppose it is OK.
Maybe Mikey should spend more time in Flyover land.
I called my village about a pot hole in the road, they were out there
the next day, cut out about 5 feet of road, edge to edge, fixed the
drain pipe that caused it and repaved it 3 days later when the
concrete on the pipe had set.
RE commissions are typically 3-3.5%.
Construction is booming here, even during the Covid.
I agree the health insurance is high but the government is making that
worse, not better and the lawyers are a big part of the problem.

Fair enough.

What about the Rust Belt? Seems pretty grim.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt#:~:text="Rust%20Belt"%20is%20an%20inform al,industrial%20decline%20starting%20around%201980 .&text=Rust%20refers%20to%20the%20deindustrializat ion,its%20once-powerful%20industrial%20sector.

Ah! reading that Wiki further, it does say that improvements are being
made in those areas.

The unions are renegotiating there contracts but there is friction
when some old guy on the old contract is making twice to 3 times as
much money and working less than the new guy. The old folks are aging
out or being bought out and moving here these days.

On 09/08/2020 19:37, wrote:
On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 06:21:02 +0100, Bod wrote:

On 09/08/2020 06:14, Bod wrote:
On 09/08/2020 06:07, Bod wrote:
On 09/08/2020 06:06, wrote:
On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 05:34:06 +0100, Bod wrote:

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few
decades'.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think
about why the workers werent working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills theyd receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open


Agree/disagree.....Opinions?

Other than the inaccuracies I suppose it is OK.
Maybe Mikey should spend more time in Flyover land.
I called my village about a pot hole in the road, they were out there
the next day, cut out about 5 feet of road, edge to edge, fixed the
drain pipe that caused it and repaved it 3 days later when the
concrete on the pipe had set.
RE commissions are typically 3-3.5%.
Construction is booming here, even during the Covid.
I agree the health insurance is high but the government is making that
worse, not better and the lawyers are a big part of the problem.

Fair enough.

What about the Rust Belt? Seems pretty grim.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt#:~:text="Rust%20Belt"%20is%20an%20inform al,industrial%20decline%20starting%20around%201980 .&text=Rust%20refers%20to%20the%20deindustrializat ion,its%20once-powerful%20industrial%20sector.

Ah! reading that Wiki further, it does say that improvements are being
made in those areas.

The unions are renegotiating there contracts but there is friction
when some old guy on the old contract is making twice to 3 times as
much money and working less than the new guy. The old folks are aging
out or being bought out and moving here these days.

I see, thanks.

On Sun, 09 Aug 2020 02:13:06 -0500, Jim Joyce
wrote:

On Sun, 09 Aug 2020 01:06:46 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 05:34:06 +0100, Bod wrote:

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few decades'.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think
about why the workers werent working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills theyd receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open

Agree/disagree.....Opinions?

Other than the inaccuracies I suppose it is OK.
Maybe Mikey should spend more time in Flyover land.
I called my village about a pot hole in the road, they were out there
the next day, cut out about 5 feet of road, edge to edge, fixed the
drain pipe that caused it and repaved it 3 days later when the
concrete on the pipe had set.
RE commissions are typically 3-3.5%.
Construction is booming here, even during the Covid.
I agree the health insurance is high but the government is making that
worse, not better and the lawyers are a big part of the problem.

You're lucky regarding the RE commissions. Up in the Florida panhandle
they're still 6%, same as the rest of the country.

That can be true if both parties buy an agent. (3% + 3%).
I didn't even know people did that these days. The buyer is usually a
lot better off just buying a lawyer to look over the documents. My guy
is $275 an hour and he can read a lot of paper in an hour.
It is not like homes for sale are a secret these days and you need the
secret handshake to look at the MLS.

On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 06:27:18 -0400, I Sellers
wrote:

On 8/9/20 3:13 AM, Jim Joyce wrote:
On Sun, 09 Aug 2020 01:06:46 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 05:34:06 +0100, Bod wrote:

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few decades'.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think
about why the workers werent working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills theyd receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open

Agree/disagree.....Opinions?
Other than the inaccuracies I suppose it is OK.
Maybe Mikey should spend more time in Flyover land.
I called my village about a pot hole in the road, they were out there
the next day, cut out about 5 feet of road, edge to edge, fixed the
drain pipe that caused it and repaved it 3 days later when the
concrete on the pipe had set.
RE commissions are typically 3-3.5%.
Construction is booming here, even during the Covid.
I agree the health insurance is high but the government is making that
worse, not better and the lawyers are a big part of the problem.
You're lucky regarding the RE commissions. Up in the Florida panhandle
they're still 6%, same as the rest of the country.


You don't *need* a real estate agent to sell a house.Â* Show it yourself and have a lawyer do the paperwork.

Exactly, that eliminates both sides if the buyer has a lawyer too. We
have a lot of lawyers here who are also title companies so the buyer
kills two birds throwing that rock. Usually the title insurance is in
addition to any real estate commission.

In article ,
says...

That can be true if both parties buy an agent. (3% + 3%).
I didn't even know people did that these days. The buyer is usually a
lot better off just buying a lawyer to look over the documents. My guy
is $275 an hour and he can read a lot of paper in an hour.
It is not like homes for sale are a secret these days and you need the
secret handshake to look at the MLS.



I don't know how it is now, but about 10 years ago I went through some
ot it. Bought a house and the agent did dual duty as a buying and
selling agent. I think they got 5 % as there was some negociation going
on for the sellers.

I sold a house through a realitor. They got 5 % on that as I negociated
it to that.

Then I sold a house. I advertised that in the paper and put out a sign
'for sale by owner' with my phone number. I showed it about 5 times
before someone bought it. I downloaded a standard contract off the
internet and I and the buyers signed it. They did a home inspeciton and
all well. We went to a lawer of their choice and he did all the paper
work. No realitor was involved. From what two lawyers told me , in NC
you have to have a laywer do some of the paper work to register it at
the court house. It was no big deal at all to sell the house yourself
and save from 4 to 6 %. I saved about $ 5,000 as that was a $ 100,000
house, or maybe the buyers came out that much better depending on how
you look at it. I did look at the county tax values and home selling
records around that neighbor hood that is all public record and can be
done on the computer from home. As there were about 10 or 12 homes
built in the area at the same time and were very similar and 2 had sold
within the last 5 years it gave me a good idea of the price I should
ask.

Yes, there is a MLS that I found the house I live in now. I did have to
go to the realitor to buy it. I made a low ball offer as I knew the
house had been on the market for over 4 months and it was rejected.
About 2 months later it was still on the market,so I made another more
reasonable offer and it was accepted. As I had taken out some home
equeity loans on another house I owned I was paying cash as far as they
were concerned. Went to a lawyer with the sellers and realitor. Signed
some papers and got the keys. Was lucky as the lawyer's office was
across the street to where the deed had to be registered so it was all
done in a few hours.

On 8/9/2020 1:39 PM, Bod wrote:
On 09/08/2020 19:37, wrote:
....

The unions are renegotiating there contracts but there is friction
when some old guy on the old contract is making twice to 3 times as
much money and working less than the new guy. The old folks are aging
out or being bought out and moving here these days.

I see, thanks.

That's major reason for the move away from North, Upper Midwest in
general for the past at least 30-40 years--outside that northern tier of
states and a very few others here and there, the rest of the US is
"right to work" country where it is not mandatory to belong to and pay
the union bosses in order to be able to hold a job even in a union shop.

So, virtually all new manufacturing went to those locations leaving the
historical areas holding the bag in being unable to attract anybody to
replace the past.

Michelin, BMW, GM/Saturn and some others were the spearheads back in 70s
and 80s. Now hundreds of others are all over the south and
southeast--most are still non-union (by worker vote) although some have
unionized since.

Eventually, there may be enough of the old guaranteed union cushy job
with unsustainable cost structure built into by work rules and benefits
mentality fade away to let them rebuild but it won't be until then and
if that doesn't happen, then it just will remain depressed until it does.

The US monopoly on auto manufacturing and steel will, however, never be
what it once was although COVID may have shown enough weaknesses in the
JIT and foreign delivery supply chain model to have some lasting
modifications come out of it.

Whether any administration will have the political will and overall
political might to protect US ability to produce sufficiently
independent of present and future enemies is doubtful--that was part of
the fallout of the tariff and embargo side effects of having to exempt
defense contractors to be able to use imported materials.

Certainly the Dems have no ideas along those lines and the Reps have no
ability to do anything without stumbling all over themselves trying to
do it or can't ever actually decide what, precisely, it is they want to
do, so it ain't agonna' happen any time real soon now, though.

--

--

On 09/08/2020 20:35, dpb wrote:
On 8/9/2020 1:39 PM, Bod wrote:
On 09/08/2020 19:37, wrote:
...

The unions are renegotiating there contracts but there is friction
when some old guy on the old contract is making twice to 3 times as
much money and working less than the new guy. The old folks are aging
out or being bought out and moving here these days.

I see, thanks.

That's major reason for the move away from North, Upper Midwest in
general for the past at least 30-40 years--outside that northern tier of
states and a very few others here and there, the rest of the US is
"right to work" country where it is not mandatory to belong to and pay
the union bosses in order to be able to hold a job even in a union shop.

So, virtually all new manufacturing went to those locations leaving the
historical areas holding the bag in being unable to attract anybody to
replace the past.

Michelin, BMW, GM/Saturn and some others were the spearheads back in 70s
and 80s.Â* Now hundreds of others are all over the south and
southeast--most are still non-union (by worker vote) although some have
unionized since.

Eventually, there may be enough of the old guaranteed union cushy job
with unsustainable cost structure built into by work rules and benefits
mentality fade away to let them rebuild but it won't be until then and
if that doesn't happen, then it just will remain depressed until it does.

The US monopoly on auto manufacturing and steel will, however, never be
what it once was although COVID may have shown enough weaknesses in the
JIT and foreign delivery supply chain model to have some lasting
modifications come out of it.

Whether any administration will have the political will and overall
political might to protect US ability to produce sufficiently
independent of present and future enemies is doubtful--that was part of
the fallout of the tariff and embargo side effects of having to exempt
defense contractors to be able to use imported materials.

Certainly the Dems have no ideas along those lines and the Reps have no
ability to do anything without stumbling all over themselves trying to
do it or can't ever actually decide what, precisely, it is they want to
do, so it ain't agonna' happen any time real soon now, though.

--

--
Thanks for that.

In article , says...

That's major reason for the move away from North, Upper Midwest in
general for the past at least 30-40 years--outside that northern tier of
states and a very few others here and there, the rest of the US is
"right to work" country where it is not mandatory to belong to and pay
the union bosses in order to be able to hold a job even in a union shop.




I work in a right to work state. Around 1975 or so a union tried to get
in to the plant I worked at. The plant had around 2500 hourly workers
and 500 manager or other salary people. The union did not get in after
3 votes on it. This was a plant that made polyester out of raw
materials. The main reason I voted against it was the parent company
had about 5 plants similar to it in the US and the vote was just for
this one plant. The product could be shifted to other plants if it came
to a strike. At that time the wages were good and we had many benefits.
Later the textile market crashed in the US an 10 years ago less than 500
people worked there and the plant is now out of business. The parent
company had built 3 plants in other countries. Bad thing is out plant
got many volunteers to go to the other countries to teach them how to
make the material. Sort of cut their own job out.

Unions could be good,but now they seem to be outdated unless it is
something like the lawyers bar association and medical association,
unions by another name. Maybe the actors union or what ever they call
it. As far as I can tell those are about the only professions that have
a lock on things. Even if I studied the law on my own and knew it very
well I could not practice it if the bar said I could not. I can not get
any medicine that is really any good with out going to a doctor. Most
any other business has no protection. If I want to I can set up an auto
repair shop right next to another one and buy parts from the local auto
parts place. I can even get most any auto part to repair my own with
out any trouble. While you do have to have a license by the state to
be in construction or an electrician, plumber, the tests are a joke and
anyone can get that with out much formal training.

"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message
k.net...
In article , says...

That's major reason for the move away from North, Upper Midwest in
general for the past at least 30-40 years--outside that northern tier of
states and a very few others here and there, the rest of the US is
"right to work" country where it is not mandatory to belong to and pay
the union bosses in order to be able to hold a job even in a union shop.




I work in a right to work state. Around 1975 or so a union tried to get
in to the plant I worked at. The plant had around 2500 hourly workers
and 500 manager or other salary people. The union did not get in after
3 votes on it. This was a plant that made polyester out of raw
materials. The main reason I voted against it was the parent company
had about 5 plants similar to it in the US and the vote was just for
this one plant. The product could be shifted to other plants if it came
to a strike. At that time the wages were good and we had many benefits.
Later the textile market crashed in the US an 10 years ago less than 500
people worked there and the plant is now out of business. The parent
company had built 3 plants in other countries. Bad thing is out plant
got many volunteers to go to the other countries to teach them how to
make the material. Sort of cut their own job out.

Unions could be good,but now they seem to be outdated unless it is
something like the lawyers bar association and medical association,
unions by another name. Maybe the actors union or what ever they call
it. As far as I can tell those are about the only professions that have
a lock on things.

That's not really true. The cops, nurses, teachers etc all do too.

Even if I studied the law on my own and knew it very
well I could not practice it if the bar said I could not. I can not get
any medicine that is really any good with out going to a doctor.

But the doctor doesn't have to belong to the AMA etc.

Most any other business has no protection. If I want to I can set up an
auto repair shop right next to another one and buy parts from the local
auto parts place. I can even get most any auto part to repair my own
with out any trouble. While you do have to have a license by the state
to be in construction or an electrician, plumber, the tests are a joke and
anyone can get that with out much formal training.

On Mon, 10 Aug 2020 06:42:18 +1000, cantankerous trolling geezer Rodent
Speed, the auto-contradicting senile sociopath, blabbered, again:

FLUSH the trolling senile asshole's latest troll**** unread

--
Website (from 2007) dedicated to the 86-year-old senile Australian
cretin's pathological trolling:
https://www.pcreview.co.uk/threads/r...d-faq.2973853/

On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 06:27:18 -0400, I Sellers wrote:

On 8/9/20 3:13 AM, Jim Joyce wrote:
On Sun, 09 Aug 2020 01:06:46 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 05:34:06 +0100, Bod wrote:

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few decades'.

The U.S.’s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didn’t even think
about why the workers weren’t working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills they’d receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open

Agree/disagree.....Opinions?
Other than the inaccuracies I suppose it is OK.
Maybe Mikey should spend more time in Flyover land.
I called my village about a pot hole in the road, they were out there
the next day, cut out about 5 feet of road, edge to edge, fixed the
drain pipe that caused it and repaved it 3 days later when the
concrete on the pipe had set.
RE commissions are typically 3-3.5%.
Construction is booming here, even during the Covid.
I agree the health insurance is high but the government is making that
worse, not better and the lawyers are a big part of the problem.
You're lucky regarding the RE commissions. Up in the Florida panhandle
they're still 6%, same as the rest of the country.


You don't *need* a real estate agent to sell a house.* Show it yourself and have a lawyer do the paperwork.

I assume most people know you don't need to use a realtor, but I always use
one for a couple of reasons. First, I don't stick around when I put a house
up for sale because I always buy the next house before putting the current
house on the market. I hand the keys to a realtor and let him/her run with
it, keeping the grass cut, scheduling open houses, dealing with incoming
queries and offers, etc. Second, I'd rather let a realtor manage the MLS
listing. Yes, I could do it, but it's worth it to me to hand off that task.

For some people, bypassing the realtor would make sense, so thanks for
mentioning it.

On Sun, 09 Aug 2020 14:46:00 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 09 Aug 2020 02:13:06 -0500, Jim Joyce
wrote:

On Sun, 09 Aug 2020 01:06:46 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 05:34:06 +0100, Bod wrote:

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few decades'.

The U.S.’s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didn’t even think
about why the workers weren’t working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills they’d receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open

Agree/disagree.....Opinions?

Other than the inaccuracies I suppose it is OK.
Maybe Mikey should spend more time in Flyover land.
I called my village about a pot hole in the road, they were out there
the next day, cut out about 5 feet of road, edge to edge, fixed the
drain pipe that caused it and repaved it 3 days later when the
concrete on the pipe had set.
RE commissions are typically 3-3.5%.
Construction is booming here, even during the Covid.
I agree the health insurance is high but the government is making that
worse, not better and the lawyers are a big part of the problem.

You're lucky regarding the RE commissions. Up in the Florida panhandle
they're still 6%, same as the rest of the country.

That can be true if both parties buy an agent. (3% + 3%).
I didn't even know people did that these days. The buyer is usually a
lot better off just buying a lawyer to look over the documents. My guy
is $275 an hour and he can read a lot of paper in an hour.
It is not like homes for sale are a secret these days and you need the
secret handshake to look at the MLS.

I mentioned my reasons for using a realtor in another post. For my move
last year, I wasn't in Texas to manage the sale and I wasn't in Mississippi
to handle the purchase, so I used a realtor as my agent for both of those
actions.

On 8/9/2020 6:23 PM, Jim Joyce wrote:
On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 06:27:18 -0400, I Sellers wrote:

On 8/9/20 3:13 AM, Jim Joyce wrote:
On Sun, 09 Aug 2020 01:06:46 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 05:34:06 +0100, Bod wrote:

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few decades'.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think
about why the workers werent working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills theyd receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open

Agree/disagree.....Opinions?
Other than the inaccuracies I suppose it is OK.
Maybe Mikey should spend more time in Flyover land.
I called my village about a pot hole in the road, they were out there
the next day, cut out about 5 feet of road, edge to edge, fixed the
drain pipe that caused it and repaved it 3 days later when the
concrete on the pipe had set.
RE commissions are typically 3-3.5%.
Construction is booming here, even during the Covid.
I agree the health insurance is high but the government is making that
worse, not better and the lawyers are a big part of the problem.
You're lucky regarding the RE commissions. Up in the Florida panhandle
they're still 6%, same as the rest of the country.

You don't *need* a real estate agent to sell a house.Â* Show it yourself and have a lawyer do the paperwork.
I assume most people know you don't need to use a realtor, but I always use
one for a couple of reasons. First, I don't stick around when I put a house
up for sale because I always buy the next house before putting the current
house on the market. I hand the keys to a realtor and let him/her run with
it, keeping the grass cut, scheduling open houses, dealing with incoming
queries and offers, etc. Second, I'd rather let a realtor manage the MLS
listing. Yes, I could do it, but it's worth it to me to hand off that task.

For some people, bypassing the realtor would make sense, so thanks for
mentioning it.


What's a high-roller like you doing hanging out on a DIY politics forum?

--
Demolitioncrats are destroying America!

On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 15:05:42 -0400, Ralph Mowery
wrote:

In article ,
says...

That can be true if both parties buy an agent. (3% + 3%).
I didn't even know people did that these days. The buyer is usually a
lot better off just buying a lawyer to look over the documents. My guy
is $275 an hour and he can read a lot of paper in an hour.
It is not like homes for sale are a secret these days and you need the
secret handshake to look at the MLS.



I don't know how it is now, but about 10 years ago I went through some
ot it. Bought a house and the agent did dual duty as a buying and
selling agent. I think they got 5 % as there was some negociation going
on for the sellers.

I sold a house through a realitor. They got 5 % on that as I negociated
it to that.

Then I sold a house. I advertised that in the paper and put out a sign
'for sale by owner' with my phone number. I showed it about 5 times
before someone bought it. I downloaded a standard contract off the
internet and I and the buyers signed it. They did a home inspeciton and
all well. We went to a lawer of their choice and he did all the paper
work. No realitor was involved. From what two lawyers told me , in NC
you have to have a laywer do some of the paper work to register it at
the court house. It was no big deal at all to sell the house yourself
and save from 4 to 6 %. I saved about $ 5,000 as that was a $ 100,000
house, or maybe the buyers came out that much better depending on how
you look at it. I did look at the county tax values and home selling
records around that neighbor hood that is all public record and can be
done on the computer from home. As there were about 10 or 12 homes
built in the area at the same time and were very similar and 2 had sold
within the last 5 years it gave me a good idea of the price I should
ask.

Yes, there is a MLS that I found the house I live in now. I did have to
go to the realitor to buy it. I made a low ball offer as I knew the
house had been on the market for over 4 months and it was rejected.
About 2 months later it was still on the market,so I made another more
reasonable offer and it was accepted. As I had taken out some home
equeity loans on another house I owned I was paying cash as far as they
were concerned. Went to a lawyer with the sellers and realitor. Signed
some papers and got the keys. Was lucky as the lawyer's office was
across the street to where the deed had to be registered so it was all
done in a few hours.

When I bought this house I got the agent agree to a seller commission
only and the title company acted as my agent for the transfer. I just
paid the title search/insurance from them. It was a cash deal and went
through pretty fast.
When I sold my condo I just told them what number I wanted on my
check, take it or leave it. They called me. I had made no effort to
sell it. I think they only paid a lawyer but I really don't know. I
got the check I wanted.

My first house was bought directly from a small builder. He had a
wife/broker but it was the same deal. I told them how much money I had
and that was I paid. I did pay the title insurance and the recording
fee.

On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 16:24:39 -0400, Ralph Mowery
wrote:
While you do have to have a license by the state to
be in construction or an electrician, plumber, the tests are a joke and
anyone can get that with out much formal training.


The biggest limitation in Florida is the "experience" requirement and
there is also the bonding and insurance requirement which scares off
the trunk slammers. When I was looking at a limited electrical license
(Low Voltage) it was thousand of bucks before I pulled a single Cat 5.

On 08/09/2020 01:35 PM, dpb wrote:
So, virtually all new manufacturing went to those locations leaving the
historical areas holding the bag in being unable to attract anybody to
replace the past.

The union figured GE Schenectady was too big to leave. It didn't help
when the large steam turbine business collapsed along with the nuke
industry but there isn't much left.

Cluett & Peabody (Arrow shirts) is all Asian now, but they exported most
of the manufacturing operation, first to Sheboygan and then to Atlanta.

I watched the backbone of New York and New England move south and then
to Mexico or Asia. The Connecticut valley was the heart of the US
machine tool business; now the most important products are meth and
fentanyl.

Like Springsteen sang in 'Youngstown' 'Them big boys did what Hitler
couldn't do.'

On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 20:13:30 -0400, Grumpy Old White Guy
wrote:

On 8/9/2020 6:23 PM, Jim Joyce wrote:
On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 06:27:18 -0400, I Sellers wrote:

On 8/9/20 3:13 AM, Jim Joyce wrote:
On Sun, 09 Aug 2020 01:06:46 -0400, wrote:

On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 05:34:06 +0100, Bod wrote:

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few decades'.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think
about why the workers werent working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills theyd receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open

Agree/disagree.....Opinions?
Other than the inaccuracies I suppose it is OK.
Maybe Mikey should spend more time in Flyover land.
I called my village about a pot hole in the road, they were out there
the next day, cut out about 5 feet of road, edge to edge, fixed the
drain pipe that caused it and repaved it 3 days later when the
concrete on the pipe had set.
RE commissions are typically 3-3.5%.
Construction is booming here, even during the Covid.
I agree the health insurance is high but the government is making that
worse, not better and the lawyers are a big part of the problem.
You're lucky regarding the RE commissions. Up in the Florida panhandle
they're still 6%, same as the rest of the country.

You don't *need* a real estate agent to sell a house.Â* Show it yourself and have a lawyer do the paperwork.
I assume most people know you don't need to use a realtor, but I always use
one for a couple of reasons. First, I don't stick around when I put a house
up for sale because I always buy the next house before putting the current
house on the market. I hand the keys to a realtor and let him/her run with
it, keeping the grass cut, scheduling open houses, dealing with incoming
queries and offers, etc. Second, I'd rather let a realtor manage the MLS
listing. Yes, I could do it, but it's worth it to me to hand off that task.

For some people, bypassing the realtor would make sense, so thanks for
mentioning it.


What's a high-roller like you doing hanging out on a DIY politics forum?

Just another Democrat standing out of the sun roof of his limo talking
about income inequality ;-)

On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 20:11:25 -0600, lowbrowwoman, the endlessly driveling,
troll-feeding, senile idiot, blabbered again:


The union figured GE Schenectady was too

FLUSH the senile drivel

On Sunday, August 9, 2020 at 2:31:47 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 06:14:40 +0100, Bod wrote:

On 09/08/2020 06:07, Bod wrote:
On 09/08/2020 06:06, wrote:
On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 05:34:06 +0100, Bod wrote:

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few
decades'.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think
about why the workers werent working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills theyd receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open


Agree/disagree.....Opinions?

Other than the inaccuracies I suppose it is OK.
Maybe Mikey should spend more time in Flyover land.
I called my village about a pot hole in the road, they were out there
the next day, cut out about 5 feet of road, edge to edge, fixed the
drain pipe that caused it and repaved it 3 days later when the
concrete on the pipe had set.
RE commissions are typically 3-3.5%.
Construction is booming here, even during the Covid.
I agree the health insurance is high but the government is making that
worse, not better and the lawyers are a big part of the problem.

Fair enough.

What about the Rust Belt? Seems pretty grim.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt#:~:text="Rust%20Belt"%20is%20an%20inform al,industrial%20decline%20starting%20around%201980 .&text=Rust%20refers%20to%20the%20deindustrializat ion,its%20once-powerful%20industrial%20sector.

There is a reason they call it the rust belt. We shipped most of our
manufacturing offshore or to right to work states and those bloated
union salaries are not competitive anymore. Car companies are not
going to pay a high school graduate line worker $80k a year to do some
menial task several hundred times a day when a Mexican, a guy in
Tennessee or a robot can do it much cheaper.
I was reading the other day that you can't even blame the Mexican or
the Hillbilly for most of the decline, it is the robots.

Sadly that's about it. The other thing that drove companies to move jobs
away from unions was the work rules that destroyed productivity. Like
requiring two men for a one man job. I remember when I used to go into
Bell Labs with some gear on one of those small, folding little luggage
carts. I couldn't continue to wheel it behind me in the building,
the engineer had to call a "porter". Even if Trump could bring jobs
back, they aren't going to be the jobs of the 60s and 70s. On the other
hand, if you get educated, learn a needed skill, like repairing robots,
then you can still earn a decent living.

On Mon, 10 Aug 2020 09:14:30 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Sunday, August 9, 2020 at 2:31:47 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 06:14:40 +0100, Bod wrote:

On 09/08/2020 06:07, Bod wrote:
On 09/08/2020 06:06, wrote:
On Sun, 9 Aug 2020 05:34:06 +0100, Bod wrote:

'Without fixes for infrastructure, education, health care and
government, the U.S. will resemble a developing nation in a few
decades'.

The U.S.s decline started with little things that people got used to.
Americans drove past empty construction sites and didnt even think
about why the workers werent working, then wondered why roads and
buildings took so long to finish.
They got used to avoiding hospitals because of the unpredictable and
enormous bills theyd receive. They paid 6% real-estate commissions,
never realizing that Australians were paying 2%. They grumbled about
high taxes and high health-insurance premiums and potholed roads, but
rarely imagined what it would be like to live in a system that worked
better.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/ar...ut-in-the-open


Agree/disagree.....Opinions?

Other than the inaccuracies I suppose it is OK.
Maybe Mikey should spend more time in Flyover land.
I called my village about a pot hole in the road, they were out there
the next day, cut out about 5 feet of road, edge to edge, fixed the
drain pipe that caused it and repaved it 3 days later when the
concrete on the pipe had set.
RE commissions are typically 3-3.5%.
Construction is booming here, even during the Covid.
I agree the health insurance is high but the government is making that
worse, not better and the lawyers are a big part of the problem.

Fair enough.

What about the Rust Belt? Seems pretty grim.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt#:~:text="Rust%20Belt"%20is%20an%20inform al,industrial%20decline%20starting%20around%201980 .&text=Rust%20refers%20to%20the%20deindustrializat ion,its%20once-powerful%20industrial%20sector.

There is a reason they call it the rust belt. We shipped most of our
manufacturing offshore or to right to work states and those bloated
union salaries are not competitive anymore. Car companies are not
going to pay a high school graduate line worker $80k a year to do some
menial task several hundred times a day when a Mexican, a guy in
Tennessee or a robot can do it much cheaper.
I was reading the other day that you can't even blame the Mexican or
the Hillbilly for most of the decline, it is the robots.

Sadly that's about it. The other thing that drove companies to move jobs
away from unions was the work rules that destroyed productivity. Like
requiring two men for a one man job. I remember when I used to go into
Bell Labs with some gear on one of those small, folding little luggage
carts. I couldn't continue to wheel it behind me in the building,
the engineer had to call a "porter". Even if Trump could bring jobs
back, they aren't going to be the jobs of the 60s and 70s. On the other
hand, if you get educated, learn a needed skill, like repairing robots,
then you can still earn a decent living.

I was working nights in the Chicago Ed center and they wanted to move
a couple of machines in the Ed Center computer room. We just did it,
like we would in any other place in America, something we did
regularly. Management found out and lost their minds. We had to stop
and call an electrician to stand there and watch while we reconnected
them. Nobody actually trusted them to do the work but they had to be
there on golden time to watch.