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I Love a Mark in Uniform (Meet the sleazebucket car dealers who prey on our troops)
MotherJones ^ | July/August 2009 Issue | By Stephanie Mencimer/Taylor Wiles.

Posted on 08/25/2009 9:06:35 PM PDT by fight_truth_decay

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Dealers doled out more than $9 million to federal candidates during the 2008 election cycle alone.

Cash for Clunkers= pushing loans = building more debt = one man's junk said another man's asset, now destroyed.

1 posted on 08/25/2009 9:06:37 PM PDT by fight_truth_decay
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To: fight_truth_decay

“former Marine” was the first clue.


2 posted on 08/25/2009 9:10:02 PM PDT by Gondring (Paul Revere would have been flamed as a naysayer troll and told to go back to Boston.)
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To: fight_truth_decay

Where’re the Hooters?


3 posted on 08/25/2009 9:12:31 PM PDT by Steely Tom
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To: fight_truth_decay
My suggestion is to take a vehicle for a test ride directly to the base and then tell the salesman you're not interested...without signing anything. The huckster can drive the car back to his used car lot.


4 posted on 08/25/2009 9:14:22 PM PDT by Blue Jays (Rock Hard, Ride Free)
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To: Steely Tom
One showroom a stone's throw from the Little Creek naval base lures sailors with pool tables and the promise of free lunch for those who bring a few friends. Others feature video games and big-screen TVs, bikini car washes and Hooters nights featuring all-you-can-eat wings...
5 posted on 08/25/2009 9:15:52 PM PDT by fight_truth_decay
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To: fight_truth_decay

“If he’s over 18 years of age and he’s willing to sign a contract,” the salesman argued, “I don’t see how you can be forced.”

I love the military and their service to our nation, but this cotton-picking con man does have a point. If you are old enough to serve your country, you should be old enough to know not to sign a piece of paper a car salesman puts in front of you without reading it VERY carefully.


6 posted on 08/25/2009 9:16:37 PM PDT by Boogieman
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To: fight_truth_decay
Tommy

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
    O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
    But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
    The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
    O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.
 
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
    For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
    But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
    The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
    O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.
 
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
    But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.
 
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
    While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
    But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
    There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
    O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.
 
You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
    For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
    But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
    An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
    An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!


7 posted on 08/25/2009 9:20:00 PM PDT by FreedomCalls (It's called the "Statue of Liberty" and not the "Statue of Security.")
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To: Boogieman

Hmmmm...

How can we reward these lovely car dealers...?

What could the government do to boost sales for these poor salesmen...?

I wonder if there could be some sort of government incentive that would get them a lot of customers...?


8 posted on 08/25/2009 9:21:23 PM PDT by ltc8k6
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To: fight_truth_decay

Maybe the base ought to put some of these places off limits, and have Shore Patrol roll by every hour and roust any sailor on the property.

That and some good guidance from senior NCO’s might help.


9 posted on 08/25/2009 9:27:56 PM PDT by cryptical (The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.)
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To: Boogieman
I love the military and their service to our nation, but this cotton-picking con man does have a point. If you are old enough to serve your country, you should be old enough to know not to sign a piece of paper a car salesman puts in front of you without reading it VERY carefully.

And that is precisely why, at least in the Navy, sailors are required to attend briefs on various scams targeting service members and how to avoid falling victim to them prior to ever receiving off-base liberty. And the briefs are re-given throughout a sailor's career.

Nonetheless, you can't always save sailors from themselves and seeing E2s and E3s living in the barracks and driving $70K autos financed on 10 year loans that are eating their entire paychecks is a not at all uncommon sight.

I just attended one of these briefs this week. What is drummed into a sailor's head over and over again is before they sign any contract, bring it to Navy Legal and they'll receive head-of-the-line privileges. What do sailors do? They bring *signed* contracts to Navy Legal! Sorry Shipmate!

10 posted on 08/25/2009 9:28:50 PM PDT by Drew68
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To: FreedomCalls
One of the finest poems ever written in the English language!

Thank you for posting it!

11 posted on 08/25/2009 9:34:46 PM PDT by SAJ (q)
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To: ltc8k6
wonder if there could be some sort of government incentive that would get them a lot of customers...?

..customers they would probably have had in the first place; but then this would show Americans the auto industry is better off if government gives a helping hand..and who best to give a "helping hand" but the best salesman of all..Obama!

Libs love giving away what does not belong to them..our money! I feel used!


12 posted on 08/25/2009 9:37:01 PM PDT by fight_truth_decay
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To: FreedomCalls
I had never read that..thanks.
13 posted on 08/25/2009 9:37:58 PM PDT by fight_truth_decay
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To: cryptical
Maybe the base ought to put some of these places off limits, and have Shore Patrol roll by every hour and roust any sailor on the property.

Many dealerships, at least in Jacksonville and San Diego where I've been stationed, are off limits for sailors and they can go to mast for violating a direct order if they're caught at these businesses.

14 posted on 08/25/2009 9:41:04 PM PDT by Drew68
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To: fight_truth_decay
Oh, man. These cockroaches have been around for as long as there have been armies and navies. All you can do is get the word out. The author rather reflexively (this is, after all, Mother Jones) calls for greater regulation of the auto dealers but there is only so much you can do. Servicepeople are adults and their signatures are binding. If you can trust them with the helm of a ship and a thousand lives, you ought to be able to trust them with an auto purchase.

Public opprobrium is a much more effective way of dealing with this, and that begins on base. Gone are the days when a Neely could expect a little midnight blanket party with a ballbat or two. In some ways that was a more civilized age. You have to keep dunning it into the occasionally thick skulls of the young 'uns.

Incidentally, NFCU is, as far as I have dealt with over the space of thirty years, a perfectly clean and reputable organization. Others' mileage may vary.

15 posted on 08/25/2009 9:41:40 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: fight_truth_decay

Should have been a man and joined the Army where the first week in boot camp you learn financial management and a very point blank warning on car dealers outside the gates.... Navy is terrible at taking care of their own....


16 posted on 08/25/2009 9:45:16 PM PDT by nckerr (www.myspace.com/ArmyKerrFamily)
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To: Blue Jays

I like that idea.


17 posted on 08/25/2009 10:00:11 PM PDT by unkus
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To: fight_truth_decay

Hey I’m in the USAF and we were warned about places like this... i went to tech school at Keesler AFB in Biloxi... and there is a place called Holmes Motors that is E-1 up approved...that they advertise on their lot not 100 yards from the base... we were told in processing to stay away from that place cuz they will only rip u off... just sayin...


18 posted on 08/25/2009 10:10:36 PM PDT by vlad_the_impaler007 (I have not yet begun to fight- John Paul Jones)
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To: fight_truth_decay

Wow! Nothing’s changed in forty years.

When I was in the Navy in Long Beach when I was 17, a used car dealer convinced me that I just “had” to have this car. At that time in California, an 17 Y.O. needed his parents permission to by a car, but that didn’t seem to mater. I didn’t have a drivers license, but that didn’t matter either...

So... I signed the papers and drove off the lot and went about a half block and tried to stop at a red light... and no brakes. I hit a big fancy cadillic that just happened to be driven by the local district attorney. Did quite a bit of damage...

After he talked to me a few moments and discerned that I had just purchased the car halfway down the block (I was in uniform), he marched me back there and after he talked to the dealer for a few minutes, the dealer came over and handed me my $300 back.

I was out of there... Don’t know what happened between to two of them. I took my money and bought a Honda 50 (maybe 90 ... it was in “63).


19 posted on 08/25/2009 10:25:17 PM PDT by babygene
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To: fight_truth_decay
Mother Jones

That was all I needed to see.
20 posted on 08/25/2009 10:47:43 PM PDT by papasmurf (RnVjayB5b3UsIDBiYW1hLCB5b3UgcGllY2Ugb2Ygc2hpdCBjb3dhcmQh)
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