“Well consider whether as a voter you support someone who bribed politicians to get on the inside.”
Let me explain this to you, I don’t think you will understand, but I will try:
I live in Chicago, I own a business in Chicago. I do contract plumbing work. That means, I install sprinklers in buildings, I do water lines on the street and up to buildings, I do gas lines up and down the roads, and up to your commercial building, and all sorts of smaller projects.
Every year, I have to give to every politician (D or R) in the 50 towns around me that I intend to do business with. Every single one. Not only that, I have to give to those running for office as well. It ranges from $500 to $2,500. I also have to give to the Chamber of Commerce for most towns. In addition to that, I am *asked* to support whatever pet social cause they have, that can be anything, but is usually United Way, but I also have to give to Operation Push, The Daley Initiative and Rahm’s Chicago, just to name a few).
Now, this does not even mention my unions. I have IBEW, Pipefitters, Plumbers, Heavy Equipment Operators, Welding and Iron, and of course my favoritely named; Machinists and Aerospace Workers...
Every one of those unions has to be greased as well.
Greasing those entities means that my guys can pull permits in the municipality without a hassle, it means I can double park my equipment if need be, it means my guys don’t get hassled by the fire department or get the run around from the water department over and over again, it means I get the union workers that are supposed to show up for a job, it means that my inspections go smooth, they aren’t jacked around which is important when you need a gas-line sign off and you have 3 concrete trucks waiting to pour over your work, it means that those same concrete trucks aren’t getting ticketed for sitting idle, it means that there isn’t a strike for something I had nothing to do with, but maybe the building owner or developer had, it means I don’t get the bottom of the barrel idiots from the union hall on a daily basis, I get pretty good workers (my pipefitters come from union hall, ibew pay their own way, the others are a mix).
The list of graff goes on and on, and you may not like it, I know I don’t like it, but it’s the cost of doing business in my field, and I’m just a contractor, I’m not the developer like Trump is, so he’s going to get the shakedown a lot harder than I am, though from different angles. I am expected by the people I work for, to make sure my jobs run smooth. They don’t want to hear about my trucks getting ticketed, they don’t want to hear that I got 3 laborers from the hall who never showed up to work. They don’t want to hear that the inspector had to return three times. They want the job done and on time. Period.
This is one reason I am sick of politics, because every politician is the same. I don’t care if they are a D or and R around here. And they ALL promise change, but within a year or so, it is back to business as usual.
We “donate” to so many campaigns and funds and initiatives that it is handled by my 2 accounts payaple people. It is just a line item expense, a tax, or whatever. We consider it the same as buying welding rods for a job, the price is fixed into the estimate, it just is what it is.
A bribe? Oh no, the courts would disagree with you on that.. see.. it’s a “donation”. Funny thing is, those that “donate” get better treatment than those that don’t.
And if you think Texas works any different than Illinois, well it might to some extent, but with friends in my field all over (especially pipefitters who I know who have done work in the oil industry), let me tell you that it’s not all that much different. You just don’t see it, but it exists in one form or another. I promise you that.
AND this is ANOTHER reason I like Trump, because if anyone is going to change this sort of system, it is the guy with an axe to grind, and I guarantee you that Trump has been shaken down and forced to “donate” to so many people, he has a naughty list a mile long he’s just waiting to rectify.
I know if I were him, at my stage of life (I think we are similar age) with his resources, I would be getting my digs in on these corrupt bastards before I kicked off.
““Well consider whether as a voter you support someone who bribed politicians to get on the inside.—
Ok....then you just admitted that Ted Cruz takes bribes.
The guy with an axe to grind had a chance to change the system in Iowa and chose not to
I swear some people around here sound like they should be voting for Bernie. I’ve never heard so much anti-business hatred in my life on FR until Trump started running. What you described is spot on whether you run a business in Chicago or a small southern town, this is the game you have to play to get along. Bucking the system does nothing but jeopardize the jobs of people working for these companies. People that need their jobs and their paychecks. To me it’s an honorable thing to provide jobs for people.
That was a good read, thanks for posting it.