tkhayes

you are delusional. I have a modest income and a $200K mortgage over my head and I am 50 years old. I have barely $100K in savings for my retirement and I have worked hard and 'done well' all my life. I am happy. I am MOST DEFINITELY NOT rich or anything even close to it.

Go ahead - feel free to disregard the rest of the post and the questions and ignore the examples that you have failed to provide. fantasy land.......

And I say - let them go. We can start over with a better financial structure that does not allow the rich to become so rich, give nothing back to the country (jobs) and then fuck off with all the money. In case you had not noticed - that have ALL the money. We do not have the jobs. The theory perpetrated by the right wing - if we leave them alone, they will create jobs - THAT is complete bullshit of a theory.

your assumptions are out to lunch....I'm done with the irrationality. I have nto said any such thing, I have not even come close to any such thing. And if you can 'gin up' examples all day long - then let's hear one - 'cause I ain't buying your crap.....

If you can't see reality, I cannot help you. Gas is up, people still drive food is up, people still eat Clothing is up, people still wear clothes iPads are out and people are buying them skydiving went up, and people still jump - more than ever, Now instead of a theory...try some real-life examples of what YOU are saying and I might consider your argument. I have offered PLENTY of real-life arguments, you have only stated a theory.

the 'emergency meeting' I spoke of - what a load of shit.....and to think, we just elected this guy and he is already grandstanding.....

Does not matter if I 'care' or not - that's not the issue. I am saying that prices have gone up - DRAMATICALLY at Skydive City during 2007 when fuel prices sky-rocketed. And from 1995 ($15 jump) to now ($24.50 jumps), our business has increased. So who exactly is taking the hit, as you say? This is just business. I price for what I offer and what my competition is doing, and what my customers will tolerate (in some cases). And my hiring practices revolve around....what I offer, what my competition is doing and what my customers will tolerate. Not around what my corporate tax rate is. So to say it won't hurt 'ME', well it does not appear to hurt anyone does it? I have more business than I did a bunch of years ago, I have a larger staff, I have a good customer base, due to the services that I offer, I would like to thin, not because of the corporate tax rate..... My customers have plenty of dropzones they can go to in Florida. They choose to come here. It's a pretty lame arguement as well to say that some other vendor (like a restaurant? Or what do you you mean?) is suffering because people chose to skydive instead of eating at their restaurant? That is called day-to-day life. People make decisions. I did not buy that quart of oil today at AutoZone because when i drove by, I did not have cash in my wallet. It was NOT because Lowe's took my last dollar when I bought the drain repair kit for my house, even if that is the reason I had no cash in my wallet. i am still going back to get the quart of oil - just not this time. Plain silly.

Taxes began lowering dramatically when Reagan took office, continued through the Clinton years, into the Bush years and yes jobs declined the entire period. Much manufacturing moved overseas, and the American manufacturing base was decimated - all with the corporations continuing to argue that lower and lower taxes will help. All it did was make a select few very rich and dumbed down the avergae worker to les and less. Productivity is higher than it has ever been (good for corporations) - wages are lower than they have ever been (good for corporations) It's a pretty lame arguement to say that 'taxes were higher' during Clinton. They certainly were higher than they are today, but not higher than 'before Reagan' administrations. so my point (again) - LOWERING taxes has had little to do with economic growth or providing jobs. We need to raise taxes to pay for the services (and the wars) that we choose to fight. The economy and taxes are not connected (directly). Most European Countries are fairing far better economically, that we are and they all have high taxes. But they enjoy the social services that everyone here seems to want to keep, but no one will stand up for fear of being called a commie.....

wow, me and Kennedy agree on something. I do not thinnk any of the parties in DC have the balls to do either (raise taxes or cut spending), so we will sluff along until who knows what happens. But you are right, the (very minor) changes that they are proposing are just that, very minor......and will have no appreciable difference to the bottom line. I get to meet our new Congressman tomorrow at Zephyrhills City Hall. He called an "Emergency Meeting of all citizens to discuss the impending deficit" What a load of hype! I will sure to tell him what is on my mind....

I did not say that either, I said it makes no real difference. Corporate America is MOST DEFINITELY making the claim that lower taxes will grow jobs and you are MOST DEFINITELY backing that position. I ask you to show me the data and you cannot so your respond to a question with a question. At least I provided a real-life scenario to back my claim that it makes no difference.

OK, I will explain it. I make widgets and I sell widgets. It takes X number of workers to make the widgets and my market share is Y Unless my market, Y, expands, I will have no more need for more than X workers. The expansion of market is what drives X. Amongst many other factors. I get a tax increase and now I have to pay more taxes than before. If I then reduce X workers in response to that tax increase, I will therefore produce fewer widgets and my market share Y will suffer, my bottom line will suffer and i begin a downward spiral most likely. So instead I examine my business for efficiency, and I probably raise my prices. I still have a market share Y and I still have workers X. I will hire more workers when my market share increases. At Skydive City, we enlarged our staff over the years. Had nothing to do with taxes. It had to do with increasing the business. The business has been relatively flat and quite predictable for many years; profitable, but flat. We are not complaining. And to think that lowering my taxes is actually going to make me go out and hire people is silly. I will hire more people when i have more business. And Skydive City has never seen a 'downturn' in business because we raised prices. Why? Because we raise prices when we need to and in response to REAL life situations, aircraft costs, fuels, expenses and cost of operation. Those prices have nothing to do with my hiring practices. We might look at it from time to time, but I hire based on the level of service I am trying to deliver and then I price my product and service based on the overall cost of delivering that level of service and product. If fuels hits $4/gallon (or the government imposes a huge corporate tax increase), then we will raise prices and I expect our customer base will stay EXACTLY the same, because it affects everyone globally and does not have anything to do with the jobs. So sorry to have to throw reality into your fantasy.....

Again, and slowly - if you keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting to get different results......then you are insane..... We have lowered taxes for 30 years and the jobs are gone. Continuing to lower taxes then will help how? You're the one that made that claim, not me. So show me the numbers where lower taxes created more jobs, 'cause I ain't seeing it. Show me some country in the world that has the lowest taxes and does not suffer from unemployment. It's a theory, albeit on paper, even a valid theory. It has little to do with reality. The reality is that Corporations and CEO's will line their pockets with the most amount of money and profits by cutting down expenses, workers included. Lowering the taxes, unless LEGISLATED, will not create the jobs automatically.

the jobs are gone - or hadn't you noticed.....? There are MANY reasons for expanding or not expanding business. taxes are just a small part of that whole decision making process. BTW, Skydive City pays fuck all in corporate income taxes......probably like most corporations. Most of the issues of 'expansion' have to do with the market and the size of the pie, nothing to do with corporate income tax. But it's OK, feel free to educate me about how to run my dropzone, I obviously know NOTHING about it..... You already know where I stand on that matter - no need to turn yet ANOTHER thread into something about something that it is not about just 'cause you like to jab..... sure, it's working well right now - everyone is leaving right?

so for 30 years, we have reduced the taxes on the rich and corporations, with the promise that this will help create jobs, (which is has not), and then when we propose raising taxes, even a little on the rich, then they are all going to leave? Well good riddance then.... Jobs are still going overseas. Tax reductions have nothing to do with unemployment in this country. The rich and the corporations will always scream about how ANYTHING the government (or unions or anyone else) does with damage their bottom line and that it will affect jobs. The country is broke for a lot of reasons, but reducing taxes is probably not going to fix that. ANd reducing all government spending to zero is not going to fix that either - it is an idealism like Communism that works well on paper but does not work in reality. We have some of the lowest taxes in the world and we currently have high unemployment. Capitalism that provides NOTHING in return for the people is not much of a system. Again, an idealism that does not work in reality....

Here's our wishlist - I have been building it for years now.

Strong has always been willing to have other manufacturers canopies in their systems, but it is not up to Strong to buy and then test the canopies on behalf of the canopy manufacturers. Ted has said to me many times that if they want the canopies approved, then send them to Strong, Strong will test and evaluate and then approve/disapprove them. Strong is not the evil here. They get sued for pretty much every tandem operation fuckup out there and they have no incentive to stick their neck out for you or anyone else. I bet if you called UPT and asked if you could put a Bolivian-made ripcord handle on your Vector 3, they would probably say NO as well.

a few years ago, it was the Rep cronies and the compliant media....how things change...... The sky is falling..... the sky is falling...... Get real. bug-out kit? to where? If you don't like it, then elect someone who is going to do it right! Oh that's right....those politicians don't really exist. We just continue to think that electing Rep or Dem will actually change something. You want America, but you cannot even define it. I thought this was the republic (that just a couple years ago) you were berating me to leave if I did not like it. "I could go back to Canada....." well tough it out guy - yer a better and stronger person than that. People get so fucking wound up about ....about....about....what exactly? What is really going to happen? Are you going to die? Are your children going to die? Is some imminent disease coming to us all? The world is a small place. hundreds of thousands die in wars that we started. Japan is under Nuclear crisis, Haiti lost 250,000 people. Thailand and SE Asia lost 250,000 people. 30,000 children die every day from starvation. and you are worried about your tax bill.. get real. bug out kit my ass. You sound like my little niece complaining that her iPod is the wrong color......

Gromit is Dead?????!!! OMIGOD! http://www.wallaceandgromit.com/characters/gromit.html

torture? As in bamboo shoots under your fingernails? no, not at all. Many reports have come out from his treatment inside and his deteriorating mental and physical health. Mental abuse is actually torture. You may not think so, but that does not change the fact that it is. While in custody, ANY prisoner at ANY level of government becomes the ward of that 'state' and the 'state' has the responsibility to take care (albeit it limited) of that person. They certainly do not have the right to 'abuse' that prisoner is any way. His confinement in no way fits the crime. People in the military already convicted of murder get better treatment. He is innocent until proven guilty, even in the military. BTW, I am not 'supporting' Bradley Manning per se. I have no idea what he did or did not do. I hope he gets a fair trial, but I expect that he will be relinquished to the status of a Gitmo prisoner and held in limbo for years without trial or hearing while the military and the federal government simply come up with excuses as to why they cannot proceed. I would expect if the case was so 'solid' against him, he would already be in trial and done. But whatever. The thought that government can arbitrarily detain people indefinitely scares me. Especially when I see the 'right wing' support this behavior by our government, and at the same time, stand on a Bible and wave the American flag, screaming Constitutional babble..... Freedom my ass. Assange..... now there's a guy who is my hero!!

hey, as long as he gets his day in court. Wonder what he will be like in court after a year or so of solitary confinement, removal of (many of) his rights and then torture on top of that? But at least he has an attorney.

fish n chips? great food, but less obesity still in the UK. That argument has been made before that it is lifestyle, not health care that makes the difference. Perhaps if everyone could see a doctor whenever without worrying about the cost of the insurance, the doctor might be telling them that they are fat. My doctor(s) in Canada, spent plenty of time talking about lifestyle and health. Not near the whole solution, but certainly part of it. As Warrane Zevon said "Not going to see a doctor for the last 20 years may have been a tactical error on my part" Some doctors, especially if they are paid to do so, also talk about preventative as well as just fixing what's wrong with you today. tens of millions of Americans today do not enjoy that benefit.

we're a large DZ and we do that.

Oh and why do i know so much about customer service? I worked for IBM for 14+ years from 1981 to 1995, all of it in the Customer Service division. The training (at that time) is/was legendary.

A valid example yes. Most 'normal folk' people are somewhat accustomed to catering and outdoor events, and probably less likely to not ask about the 'weather' scenario. We go out of our way to make sure the skydiving customer understands the weather scenario, even though we get asked it 100 times a day. 'normal folk' do not have much understanding about how the weather affects skydiving. Whereas it is everyday stuff for us. i.e. we still get tandem reservations calling on Friday for a Saturday jump almost every summer, even when a hurricane is bearing down on us in the gulf and we are evacuating. I am pretty sure the catering company would talk about Plan B during the planning of the event since they want to get paid. In Spaceland's scenario, it sounds like the catering company would be asking for 100% payment up front if that were the case.

as far as the BBB goes, you get a 'F" rating for simply NOT responding to the customer complaint that they pass on to you. You do not necessarily even have to 'satisfy' the customer. The BBB puts a lot of weight into your responsiveness and will hear your side as well. i.e. "Hey our policy is posted on the wall, and the customer understood that when they signed up." could keep that F rating away.