[willys36@aol.com]

Just found out that Deifel's paint in Bakersfield is out of business. They have been our paint supplier for decades. I knew they were in trouble, the last time I was in there about 6 months ago the shelves looked might bare. Still have a couple of shops left but don't know for how long. Deifel's was an institution here.

[TubeTek]

Please explain just exactly how the Federal government goes about selecting a store that's selling legal products, and decides to shut it down. What methods do they use to force it to close?

People go bankrupt or otherwise out of business every day, and most every one of them is looking for something or somebody to blame it on. About 99.9 percent of the time they could find the reason by looking in a mirror. There's no better proof of this than the fact that hundreds of others in the same type business continue to prosper while the poor helpless victim goes belly up.

[willys36@aol.com]

Your'e right, I'm a total idiot.

[JeffB]

Over 15 years ago I ran a uniform and shop towel route in the Northern Cal. motherlode area,many of the little towns there had Mom and Pop stores that had food and gas pumps because of the smaller populations they did not make much selling gas,when EPA told them they had to upgrade the tanks almost all of them could not afford to,so they just shut down the pumps.This caused some folks to commute 40 plus miles away to get gas. It sure is great "Big Brother" is watching out for us and more to come with the "Change" that got voted in

[jcclark]

There's no doubt that government control is on the rise.
More control (good or bad) means less business.

[shine]

most small towns ( mine ) depend on wells. nothing like high octane leaking into the ground for 40 years. everybody wants things as long as it does not effect them. play by the rules or leave. real simple concept.

[MARTINSR]

When the demands made by governement effect US, it is an injustus. But when they save our lives, we thank "God".

You want no government, look at the countries hit by earth quake where hundreds of thousands die. THAT Is what it is like without building codes.

Sure there some demands made are out of line, but just think of what it would be like with none!

Brian

[Old Fool]

Originally Posted by willys36@aol.com

Just found out that Deifel's paint in Bakersfield is out of business. They have been our paint supplier for decades. I knew they were in trouble, the last time I was in there about 6 months ago the shelves looked might bare. Still have a couple of shops left but don't know for how long. Deifel's was an institution here.

PLEASE explain how the Fed is responsible.
Did the Fed tax them to death
Did the Fed regulate them to death with labor laws
Did the Fed regulate them out of business with enviormental laws

Just how did the Fed do this injustice?

[66GMC]

Aaaayup.
The popular vote to "privatize Alberta" ... to turn over the control of utilities to the private sector has gone real well for me for example.

We went from having very stable natural gas consumer price with a government-run system to what we have now.

Every Tom, Dick, and Harry utility marketer is trying to convince you that THEY can provide better service / lower prices.

Fall 2008, *just before* the crap hit the proverbial fan ... Nat Gas prices were on the rise ... just in time for winter.
A gas utilities sales rep shows up at the door, and convinces my good wife that we should "lock in" our rate for 5 years at the incredibly low rate of $13.00/ gigajoule. The average price, at the time of his visit, was around $8.00 - $9.00, IIRC.

Lately (actually, since the "economic downturn" began) "market" prices have been around $6.50/ gj. My gas bill was $525.00 for January, and this was an El Ninio winter!

I had another (different) supplier show up at the door the other day. I politely explained WHY he didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting my signature on any form of his, but have a nice day.

Electricity is the same way. Those crooks just got an OK to build a new line and set of towers ... I beleive at taxpayer expense.

"We need to prepare Alberta for the energy challenges of the future." was the big sell, but many people felt that it was wanting the ability to supply electrical power to the grid ... another market opportunity. Will these electrical utility companies be paying the taxpayers any dividends on their infrastructure investment? Not freaking likely.

Yeah, I'm a little bitter!

[cboy]

Originally Posted by willys36@aol.com

Just found out that Deifel's paint in Bakersfield is out of business.

Was this a result of the general economic pinch or was there something specific involving the federal government? Either way, it's always a shame when any small business goes under.

[deadbodyman]

Water is way more important than gas.so if the only way to stop leaky old steel tanks is to stop selling gas then stop selling gas, nobody spends that kind of money willingly...shut them down...
What I dont understand is why our taxs are getting raised to build the new nuke power plant....if were paying to build it wouldnt it belong to us?and when its built wouldnt the rates go down? what a deal to have someone else pay to start a business for you..the government supplys loans (our tax money) then our electric rates go up to help pay for it,not to mention property taxs...we have no choice in the matter we tried to suit and the courts wouldnt even look at the case.Boy does my butt hurt.The poo's gonna hit the fan very soon now, I can see it coming...

[shine]

talk to the ones who voted for the messiah .

[DitchWeed]

Originally Posted by shine

most small towns ( mine ) depend on wells. nothing like high octane leaking into the ground for 40 years. everybody wants things as long as it does not effect them. play by the rules or leave. real simple concept.

Sorry, but, common sense should prevail. These little stations had little tanks, and there is no way "mom & pop" would allow the gas they pay good money for to soak into the ground, not for 40 years, and not for one year.

The rules should make sense, if billy Jo Bob had a station with a 2,000 gallon tank he should be allowed to monitor what goes in and what comes out.

None the less, when I hear about how a business is put "out of business" by the government, the first thing that comes to my mind is that they didn't pay their taxes.

The government is under the impression that taxes get paid before ANYONE, and if a person wants to remain in business, this person had better know that this is how it works.

"Don't mess with the taxman" has been a mantra of mine that has served me well.

[shine]

got news for you. small gas stations like that were the worst contaminators . most all had ancient steel tanks buried. that is why so many abandoned stations had to have their tanks dug up. many still had old gas and water in them. steel tanks don't last forever underground. before regulations they never tested the tanks and had no idea of what was going on. i have seen a tank pulled from the ground with holes in it and a huge pit of nasty under it. i have a well and don't want to drink old gasoline so i don't care how many mom and pops went out of business . i've been in business for over 30 years and have had to follow the rules just like everybody else.

[DitchWeed]

Originally Posted by shine

got news for you. small gas stations like that were the worst contaminators . most all had ancient steel tanks buried. that is why so many abandoned stations had to have their tanks dug up. many still had old gas and water in them. steel tanks don't last forever underground. before regulations they never tested the tanks and had no idea of what was going on. i have seen a tank pulled from the ground with holes in it and a huge pit of nasty under it. i have a well and don't want to drink old gasoline so i don't care how many mom and pops went out of business . i've been in business for over 30 years and have had to follow the rules just like everybody else.

Thats good, then you must be a millionaire then, because if your not then you can't afford to sell gas. I guess that is ok. ( when did you last see pumps go into a place that didn't cost millions of dollars? )

I am not saying that people should be allowed to pollute the environment, what I am saying is that there are certainly more reasonable and economic ways to meet the same end.

You can debate anything in this post you like except for the this:>>

Problem is people like a convenient "one size fits all" solution, and unfortunately it is often the people with "good ideas" and "good intention" who f everything up. <<

Fact is, there is no way I am wrong about that....