[RipSawyer]

“The only thing that’s worse than no business is going broke because you did business with the government and were not paid.”
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Exactly, I have heard small businessmen actually say, “If you never get paid you are no better off than if you had not gotten the job.” It makes me want to scream, actually you are FAR WORSE OFF to get the job and not get paid, you would be miles ahead to simply go sit on the creek bank with a cane pole, you might at least catch something to eat rather than losing a lot of money in costs.

Maybe I’m just anal but I really believe that such imprecision in language represents lack of clarity in thought and explains a lot of what has happened to the country.

[Oceander]

actually you are FAR WORSE OFF to get the job and not get paid

Very true. If nothing else, had you not taken the job you wouldn't have had to pay for anything like supplies, labor, etc, whatever inputs you had to pay for up front in order to get the job done; having taken the job, you're in negative territory until you get paid enough to at least cover the marginal expenses you incurred because of the job.