If I were President of the United States I would...

Give them some tools and send them home to work on their own houses.

Can't do that!! The families would sue the tool manufacturers and anyone in sight and blow it on twinkies and lottery tickets!! Then they would get gov. money for being overweight, stupid, drunks, and unemployable.

Lest you think I jest, I went to school with 2 brothers that got disability checks in their 30's. One got a stupid pension and the other got a drunk pension. At least the drunk drank himself to death and the dumb one being not so dumb, moved to Campabello Island (Canada) where his free check went further.

Kevin

If I were President of the United States I would recognize rights and do away with permission slips.

http://ericpetersautos.com/2012/11/27/p ... of-rights/

jpete wrote:

coalkirk wrote: While i think education decisions should be left to the states, I would strongly encourage governors to require real achievement to pass from grade to grade. Those who clearly have a limited academic potential would be offered trade school training as an alternative.

No thanks. I already have a few of those with "limited academic potential" in my HVAC class. They can't figure out the dangerous end of a screwdriver and I highly doubt you want them working on your furnace unless you really don't like your house.

Fair enough. Let them do drywall or something else that doesn't require a lot of analysis.

KLook wrote:Can't do that!! The families would sue the tool manufacturers and anyone in sight and blow it on twinkies and lottery tickets!!

That is what happens in Maine. They get Food Stamps, and because they cannot buy beer or cigarettes, they buy bottled water with it...take it out in the parking lot, dump the water out, and because we have a bottle redemption bill here, they go back in with the empty bottles and return them. With cash in their hand, they then and go and by their beer and cigarettes.

The level of creativity knows no bounds when you have nothing to do but think of ways to get what you want with someone else paying for it.

NoSmoke wrote:

KLook wrote:Can't do that!! The families would sue the tool manufacturers and anyone in sight and blow it on twinkies and lottery tickets!!

That is what happens in Maine. They get Food Stamps, and because they cannot buy beer or cigarettes, they buy bottled water with it...take it out in the parking lot, dump the water out, and because we have a bottle redemption bill here, they go back in with the empty bottles and return them. With cash in their hand, they then and go and by their beer and cigarettes.

The level of creativity knows no bounds when you have nothing to do but think of ways to get what you want with someone else paying for it.

Wondering if the majority of those receiving food stamps do this or is it just a select few?

It's certainly more than a few but probably less than the majority.

There are all kinds of scams. From black markets in diapers and laundry detergent to less than ethical shop owners accepting food stamps for items other than food.

jpete wrote:It's certainly more than a few but probably less than the majority.

There are all kinds of scams. From black markets in diapers and laundry detergent to less than ethical shop owners accepting food stamps for items other than food.

Curious as to the percentage and maybe more enforcement to cut out the scams.

Northern Maine wrote:

jpete wrote:It's certainly more than a few but probably less than the majority.

There are all kinds of scams. From black markets in diapers and laundry detergent to less than ethical shop owners accepting food stamps for items other than food.

Curious as to the percentage and maybe more enforcement to cut out the scams.

You assume the government wants to stop it.

If welfare were kept to a bare minimum, what would the people with all the "social service" degrees do?

coalkirk wrote:

jpete wrote:

coalkirk wrote: While i think education decisions should be left to the states, I would strongly encourage governors to require real achievement to pass from grade to grade. Those who clearly have a limited academic potential would be offered trade school training as an alternative.

No thanks. I already have a few of those with "limited academic potential" in my HVAC class. They can't figure out the dangerous end of a screwdriver and I highly doubt you want them working on your furnace unless you really don't like your house.

Fair enough. Let them do drywall or something else that doesn't require a lot of analysis.

The fundamental reason why we have a human skills crisis in this country is because of the last half century the business/manufacturing leaders have convinced us that their skilled workers should be provided by the public education system. They are unwilling to foot the bill for the long term training of their workers. It's a complex issue, but long term successful companies invest heavily in training their employees. Many others do not, rewarding their shareholders first.

Yanche wrote:The fundamental reason why we have a human skills crisis in this country is because of the last half century the business/manufacturing leaders have convinced us that their skilled workers should be provided by the public education system. They are unwilling to foot the bill for the long term training of their workers. It's a complex issue, but long term successful companies invest heavily in training their employees. Many others do not, rewarding their shareholders first.

Taco(not the Mexican meal, pronounced 'TAY-co') is a manufacturer of heating system components like zone valves and circulator pumps and they just put an addition onto their on site school opened in 1992 to help their employees do everything from get their GED to learn more about art appreciation.

He's probably one of the last guys I know doing anything like that.

http://www.taco-hvac.com/en/education.html