America is not broke

[x635 4,066]

A very interesting read. I agree with him. I know some people don't like Michael Moore and his style, but he uses it to get a message across. And I think this message is dead on.

America Is NOT Broke ...the Madison speech by Michael Moore

Delivered in Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday, March 5th, 2011.

America is not broke.Contrary to what those in power would like you to believe so that you'll give up your pension, cut your wages, and settle for the life your great-grandparents had, America is not broke. Not by a long shot. The country is awash in wealth and cash. It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich.

FULL EDITORIAL: http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/america-is-not-broke

[ny10570 745]

I'm pretty close to a bleeding hart liberal, and even I can't deal with Moore any further. I saw this story a day or two ago and I just can't get up the desire to read it. That being said, if American's spent an additional 2% on household items to buy American made products we'd create 200,000 more jobs. Republican and Democratic economic theory du jour all agree that creating jobs and spending money is good. 200,000 more people at work paying taxes and not receiving handouts has a much broader impact beyond the initial 200,000 jobs. How about people start there?? But then again the sale at WallMart saves me 50 cents on my milk and only costs me $12 in gas.

Edited March 8, 2011 by ny10570

[x635 4,066]

The basic point is the richer are getting richer, and the poorer are getting poorer.

What's happening in Wisconsin and Ohio is digusting. How long is it before other states start stripping unions and their members of what they deserve?

[helicopper 1,050]

How much US money is being sent overseas in foreign aid every year? BILLIONS.

I'm not suggesting we eliminate it but if we reduced it by half and applied that toward programs that are sorely needed within our borders and to reduce the national debt. While I wholeheartedly support our country's support of developing nations, we must protect our own first and that simply isn't happening any more.

The tax code should also be simplified so everyone pays their fair share including the poorest right up to the richest corporations. Tax breaks for special interests are out of control.

Consolidation of duplicate or redundant government agencies needs to become a law. There's a federal and state Education Department but there're also local school districts. Why all three? Why are there so many independent school districts? Almost every one has a superintendent making around 200,000 per year. Why?

America's not broke but the government thinks it can just continue spending without a care in the world.

A balanced budget bill has been introduced in the US Senate. We should all lobby for its passage. How many of us are allowed to run up big deficits without any repercussions?

[bfxfd 8]

The basic point is the richer are getting richer, and the poorer are getting poorer.

What's happening in Wisconsin and Ohio is digusting. How long is it before other states start stripping unions and their members of what they deserve?

Hopefully sooner rather than later. Public employee unions should have little to no right of collective bargaining. We need another Reagan type ATC layoff. Because who are these employees bargaining against ? The tax payer.

[99subi 121]

So the people who made it big ,got rich and wont spend it are to blame here? Mr Moore is a complete pinhead. Tell him to loan out some of his 20 million he has...... sure he'd be more than happy to..........

As far as pensions go. In my eyes, the only people who should receive TAX PAYER FUNDED pensions are FIRE,EMS , and POLICE. Why should teachers get it? they don't risk their lives on a daily basis, in fact half of them just spew out left wing garble to students.why should DPW workers get it? heck half those fat slobs don't do a damn thing from7-3 i have even caught a few sleeping.(yes i know not all are fat slobs)

Edited March 8, 2011 by 99subi

[ny10570 745]

Hopefully sooner rather than later. Public employee unions should have little to no right of collective bargaining. We need another Reagan type ATC layoff. Because who are these employees bargaining against ? The tax payer.

Seriously?? OSHA, PESH, 40hr/5 day work week, holidays, health benefits, retirement plans of all types, and just about every other perk enjoyed by both public and private sector employees is the result of a union victory ultimately at the expense of the consumer and taxpayer. Nothing is free, but at time the cost is worth it. You're young so I'm guessing you haven't been involved in a municipal contract negotiation. A few highlights from the emergency service side. We cannot strike, slow down, or perform any other organized job action without massive penalties thanks to the Taylor Law. The TWA got off fairly lightly for their Taylor Law violation and it nearly crippled their local. As a result we have very little leverage with which to force the city to negotiate with us. Our ace (more like a 9 or 10 card) in the hole is binding arbitration. We explain why we need and deserve a raise while the city argues why we don't deserve the raise or that they cannot afford it. Then a mutually agreed upon panel decides and awards the contract. However to get there the city can delay and stall and generally screw with the employees to its hearts content. For example the 5th man staffing on FDNY's engine Cos. The city claims its not negotiated the union claims it is. While the courts decide wether it falls under binding arbitration the city drops the agreement and along with it the 5th man. If at some point the union wins, they get the 5th man back, but not all of the lost wages. During our last contract negotiation the city dragged its feet for over 2 years after our contract expired. Once the economy went south they came running to the bargaining table knowing that no arbitrator would award us more money with the nations economy heading into the toilet.

The Wisconsin legislation doesn't just end collective bargaining, it effectively cripples the union by ending automatic checkoff, requiring regular union re-certification by the members, and turning the state into a "right to work" state. Kill the unions and small things like a secondary emergency egress that the city is paying $7,000 a week in fines to not provide to an EMS station disappear too. After the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire killed nearly 150 workers it wasn't the city or the businesses that got safety standards implemented and changes made. It was the unions, other industries and professionals stepping up and rallying in support of garment workers to force changes.

[PEMO3 523]

What I find interesting is we can cut to the bone American services in the interest of "balancing the budget" but out of that same bank account comes the "foreign aid" which remains uncut. We as a people should demand that the FIRST cut be foreign aid then domestic aid not the other way around. We have people going to sleep hungry and homeless within our own boarders for the sake of providing food and shelter to those in foreign lands. We as a people need to get our priorities in order and take care of our own first or at lease equally to those that we rush to. Watch late night TV and you are guaranteed to to see some actor or actress collecting for kids in some far away land. You don't see them collecting for the homeless kids in LA, the South Bronx, Miami, Detroit, Chicago, etc.

Just my two cents.

[99subi 121]

I have been saying this for YEARS. The amount of money we just give away every year is appalling, and in these times that's what id cut first.

[Goose 188]

The basic point is the richer are getting richer, and the poorer are getting poorer.

What's happening in Wisconsin and Ohio is digusting. How long is it before other states start stripping unions and their members of what they deserve?

Isn't that how it's always been? Obama, Bush, Clinton, etc, etc, etc are all cut from the same cloth. As far as Moore...hes a turd. I remember reading a few years back that he went out of his way to avoid union rates for his productions and he owned stock in major defense contractors.

[x129K 1,393]

Hopefully sooner rather than later. Public employee unions should have little to no right of collective bargaining. We need another Reagan type ATC layoff. Because who are these employees bargaining against ? The tax payer.

You are in the wrong place to be spouting anti-union rhetoric.

UNION STRONG!

[ny10570 745]

So the people who made it big ,got rich and wont spend it are to blame here? Mr Moore is a complete pinhead. Tell him to loan out some of his 20 million he has...... sure he'd be more than happy to..........

As far as pensions go. In my eyes, the only people who should receive TAX PAYER FUNDED pensions are FIRE,EMS , and POLICE. Why should teachers get it? they don't risk their lives on a daily basis, in fact half of them just spew out left wing garble to students.why should DPW workers get it? heck half those fat slobs don't do a damn thing from7-3 i have even caught a few sleeping.(yes i know not all are fat slobs)

Because in exchange for pay raises and other perks the people in these positions chose pension benefits. Traditionally public employees took less cash up front in favor of better benefits. Still today, private school teachers kill public school teachers in their paychecks. The municipalities made these deals and knew the math going into it. When you buy a house, you know what the mortgage is going to be. If ten years down the road you realize you aren't happy with the deal you can't just call the bank and say sorry I'm keeping the house, go screw. You lose the house and your credit rating. For every fat slob sanit worker getting paid to sleep I can find you a fat slob cop emt or firefighter not pulling their weight too. While were at, every day we pay firefighters to sleep in a warm not so comfy (unless you're staying in Casa de Nechis with the matching cutain/bedding combo) bed. We're also paying teachers to only work 7 months a year. But anyone who really knows and understands these jobs and what the real compensation works out to knows that these pensions are worth every penny. Hell I got paid for 7 hours of OT last night to watch "Married with Children" and sleep. Didn't do a single call. I'll go line up to give my pension back too. Then I'll go join my cousin who's first job out of college at Morgan Stanley is paying more than I'll make at top pay. He's working so hard forwarding e-mail and retyping memos for 4 hours a day. Or I could go back to my degree and return to quality control sampling supervisor at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. 70k to start just for micro pipetting and labeling at the most 5 hours a day.

Myself and just about every other municipal employee didn't pick these careers to get rich. We chose them for long term stability. Paying some idiot 70k because his thumb works and he can read is where money is being wasted. Paying another idiot (I love my cousin but he's dumb) 60k to read and type is still more waste. All this bullshit is paid for by us. The same taxpaying bums funding the pensions are paying for over priced pharmaceuticals and all of Wall Streets largess.

Please excuse this post if its a little tough to read, but I'm doing back to back to back doubles because I only take home 48% of my check after taxes, health insurance, pension, union, 457 retirement plan, and my metrocard. Out of that I have to pay more for my little one bedroom, nearly double the electric rate, 10% more for food and 10 to 20 cents more per gallon for gas all for the privilege of living amongst New York's most elite... in Washington Heights. I'm sorry if my pension has caused you to lose any sleep 99subi.

[mvfire8989 22]

I have been saying this for YEARS. The amount of money we just give away every year is appalling, and in these times that's what id cut first.

Might want to check your facts before saying that it is an appalling amount. Foreign aid is actually a very small portion of the budget. We could eliminate it entirely and it wouldn't make a dent in the deficit. However, it could cause more expensive foreign policy issues down the road.

Check these out:

Surprise! Americans want to 'slash' foreign aid – to 10 times its ...

Obama’s 2011 Budget Proposal: How It’s Spent

[wraftery 1,275]

Hopefully sooner rather than later. Public employee unions should have little to no right of collective bargaining. We need another Reagan type ATC layoff. Because who are these employees bargaining against ? The tax payer.

Let's see judging by your age (21-24) you just paid your taxes and feel you're being screwed. It's not by us, my friend. We pay taxes too. Whatever you do for a living, the Taylor Law is pretty good reading for your lunch hour.

[ny10570 745]

So the people who made it big ,got rich and wont spend it are to blame here?

Well... yeah. The principal idea of Republican tax theory is that giving the rich more money would get them to spend more and bring us more jobs and stimulate the economy. So if they're not spending it, they are to blame.

[ny10570 745]

Let's see judging by your age (21-24) you just paid your taxes and feel you're being screwed. It's not by us, my friend. We pay taxes too. Whatever you do for a living, the Taylor Law is pretty good reading for your lunch hour.

Thats a rough lunch. If he survives that, there's the Triborough Ammendment to peruse during your "union break" and then the State Employment Relations Act when you're feeling up to it.

[grumpyff 1,159]

Hopefully sooner rather than later. Public employee unions should have little to no right of collective bargaining. We need another Reagan type ATC layoff. Because who are these employees bargaining against ? The tax payer.

So, By your thinking, without my union, the NYC PBA, since 1998 I would have gotten only about a 4% pay increase in the last 13 years. When times were good and the money was flowing on Wall Street, the City of New York had the balls to tell cops and firefighters "sorry, we have no money for pay raises", but I remember Mayor Giuliani giving himself close to a 50% pay increase saying " We need to attract the best possible candidates". Sounds good to me, NOT. My Union tried to negotiate every two years, and the city would drag its feet every time, with the city refusing to negotiate. Every contract ended up in binding arbitration (which could go either way, in fact that was the reason for the $25,000 starting pay a couple of years ago). Even after 9/11 with public support for cops and firefighters at an all time high the city told us to go scratch.. they had no money. How about getting rid of the politicians pension, which they get after one term in office, or their health care, which is better than ours. PS my union provides my dental and eye care, not my employer.

Without my union I would have to re-qualify on weapons my job requires me to carry on my own time (a day off), but I would have to stay for the whole day, not when I am finished.

Without my union, I could be judged, and actions taken against me for lack of summons/arrest activity (quota bill)

Without my union I would have no recourse to complain about substandard conditions we are forced to work in. Ever been in a NYC police precinct, most are falling apart.

Without my union I would have no legal representation for actions taken at work, even if I did nothing wrong in the course of my employment.

I could go on an on. So why is my union a bad thing.

Edited March 9, 2011 by grumpyff

[antiquefirelt 994]

Without a doubt the only people laughing all the way to the bank are the very rich. We basically have middle class citizens pitted against each other while the very rich continue to get tax breaks and federally subsidies for corporations making record profits. It's easy to turn private citizens against public employees as we're paid by their dime. Of course it's also easy to forget we too pay taxes and suffer from inflation, rising fuel costs and insurance premiums. Nevermind that some pension systems like the State one I'm in save the taxpayers .7% of each employees gross wages over social security and in the end our retirees are going to be less likely to need or even qualify for any government programs/subsidies saving the taxpayer even more money in the long run. The public only sees what they want someone to share their burden and save them money. Sadly the current path will only cause more people to be in misery and worsen the tax burden going forward.

[KRF178 49]

Hopefully sooner rather than later. Public employee unions should have little to no right of collective bargaining. We need another Reagan type ATC layoff. Because who are these employees bargaining against ? The tax payer.

That's a pretty bold statement to make in a forum like this with probably 75% of the membership being union employees, and for that I admire your fortitude.

Now, what do you do for a living, I see your affiliation is a volunteer firefighter, are you trying to get on the job somewhere? If in fact you are, I'd like to see what your opinion is after a few months on the job and as a member of the IAFF. What is your basis for making a statement like that? Who else can we bargain against, unfortunately the taxpayers are the ones who pay the salary here. I'd like to see the average private sector employed taxpayer do the job of FD, PD, or EMS for a month, actually better than that, six months. With those months surrounding the holiday season. I'd love to see how they react to working thanksgiving, christmas, new years...in the rain, snow, sleet, or the heat of july. How about being up in the middle of the night to respond to an emergency, or worse than that the ones who don't have the luxury of bunk. Guaranteed, the tune would change! The average, misinformed person crys about how much public employees "get", but what they don't see is the sacrifices we make. I understand that may sound a little corny, but it is the truth! Has Joe Taxpayer ever been blasted out of bed to go do CPR on someone that collapsed, responded to a structure fire or serious MVA, gone to a domestic or shooting? The answer is no, and for that they have no appreciation!

n.

Now for those who think we get a huge bag filled with money every two weeks:

In the municipality where I work, a majority of the city employees do not live within the city. Most were born there, grew up and went to school there, and got hired by the city. They realized when it was time to buy a home, with their salary, they couldn't afford to live within the city that they work. So they took their money and moved to a place much more affordable, with cheaper taxes, and a respectable home for a reasonable price. I'm not positive what the median cost of a home is in westchester, but it's considerably less in the northern counties. It's unfortunate that these employees don't make enough to live comfortably in the city they grew up and work in. If there were no right to collective bargaining or union protection, god only knows what would happen, and eventually it would impact service to the taxpayers. People wouldn't want to take the jobs if they didn't have these benefits because that would mean low pay, horrible (if any) health coverage and probably an unhappy and hostile work environment.

Who would respond if mom or dad were having difficulty breathing?

Who would show up when the next door neighbors are making too much noise?

Who would scrape up the dead skunk in front of your house?

So, I guess shame on us who want a salary that is enough to live on, a safe work environment, and a comfortable retirement after protecting the muncipalities who employed us for 20+ years!

Stepping off the soapbox now

[x129K 1,393]

It's not a soapbox - it is reality - our livelihoods!

Our cities/counties/etc try to put the screws to us as it is - imagine how much worse it would be WITHOUT Union representation!

Yes, the Unions DO help to keep those who screw up and don't deserve these jobs keep theirs occasionally, but they do so much other good for their respective members! (I know...I am preaching to the choir for the most part..LOL)

My union paycheck keeps my family healthy and lets me own a house and two solid cars. There is no way I could afford to own a home on my private sector paycheck at the job I had before this. Not saying it could not be done, but in MY case...it could not, not in the town I live in.

I am proud to be a city employee, but even prouder to be a part of a Union Brotherhood, as I know the majority of you all are.

[Stepjam 118]

How many guys on here belong to a Union?

Most, I would bet.

How many "average citizens" do you know that blame Unions for all of our jobs going overseas?

Lots, I would bet.

The extravagantly paid American garment worker who was a member of the ILGWU made a shocking $8.25 as of 2004.

A similarly skilled worker in Bangladesh makes less than that in a week.

In short, unlike the fat slob Michael Moore, who I despise to my very core, I don't blame venture capitalists and Republicans for the gradual impoverishment of our country.

I blame the American consumer. I blame the Walmart shopper. I blame the smug yuppie or Gen-X'er who disdains his father's Oldsmobile and buys foreign car-a subject probably worthy of an entirely seperate thread on its own.

We can't all be lawyers and insurance salesmen. Somebody has to MAKE something. Otherwise, it's all smoke and mirrors.

Edited March 9, 2011 by Stepjam

[ex-commish 490]

Hopefully sooner rather than later. Public employee unions should have little to no right of collective bargaining. We need another Reagan type ATC layoff. Because who are these employees bargaining against ? The tax payer.

Very amusing. Were you around when Reagan was president?

[helicopper 1,050]

Might want to check your facts before saying that it is an appalling amount. Foreign aid is actually a very small portion of the budget. We could eliminate it entirely and it wouldn't make a dent in the deficit. However, it could cause more expensive foreign policy issues down the road.

Check these out:

Surprise! Americans want to 'slash' foreign aid – to 10 times its ...

Obama's 2011 Budget Proposal: How It's Spent

I stand by my post. I said foreign aid was tens of billions of dollars and it is. I still think it should be reduced (not elminated).

[JohnnyOV 2]

In regards to cutting $100M from the federal budget....

America has borrowed, and is still borrowing more money from other Countries then we can afford. China pretty much owns us right now in their reserves.

Cut useless spending on projects that do not work, force people to actually work to make money by removing welfare, remove pork barreling from bills, require companies to bring work back home and not overseas to curb their own spending. Bringing work home will allow consumers to put money back into the system, thus generating more jobs and improving our countries overall wealth.

[antiquefirelt 994]

Great joke seen here on the web that's so appropriate for this discussion and others surrounding collective bargaining:

"A CEO, a tea party member, and a union worker are all sitting at a table when a plate with a dozen cookies arrives. Before anyone else can make a move, the CEO reaches out to rake in eleven of the cookies. When the other two look at him in surprise, the CEO locks eyes with the tea party member. "You better watch him," the executive says with a nod toward the union worker. "He wants a piece of your cookie."

As has been noted, sadly there's more truth than humor in the above. :angry:

[mvfire8989 22]

I stand by my post. I said foreign aid was tens of billions of dollars and it is. I still think it should be reduced (not elminated).

You are correct that about the amount of foreign aid. The point I was trying to make is that it is a tiny portion of the overall budget. Our non-defense discretionary spending, where all of the budget cuts are being proposed amounts to about 15% of the total budget. The total budget proposed for FY2012 is $3.69 trillion, 15% of this is $500 billion using round numbers. We could eliminate this completely and STILL be running a deficit of $700 Billion dollars. (total projected deficit is around $1.2trillion) Eliminate all the foreign aid you want we still won't be making any fundamental changes.

If we attack some of the entitlement spending, then we would be in a much better place to expand domestic spending where we need it.

Food for thought: My link

[99subi 121]

Because in exchange for pay raises and other perks the people in these positions chose pension benefits. Traditionally public employees took less cash up front in favor of better benefits. Still today, private school teachers kill public school teachers in their paychecks. The municipalities made these deals and knew the math going into it. When you buy a house, you know what the mortgage is going to be. If ten years down the road you realize you aren't happy with the deal you can't just call the bank and say sorry I'm keeping the house, go screw. You lose the house and your credit rating. For every fat slob sanit worker getting paid to sleep I can find you a fat slob cop emt or firefighter not pulling their weight too. While were at, every day we pay firefighters to sleep in a warm not so comfy (unless you're staying in Casa de Nechis with the matching cutain/bedding combo) bed. We're also paying teachers to only work 7 months a year. But anyone who really knows and understands these jobs and what the real compensation works out to knows that these pensions are worth every penny. Hell I got paid for 7 hours of OT last night to watch "Married with Children" and sleep. Didn't do a single call. I'll go line up to give my pension back too. Then I'll go join my cousin who's first job out of college at Morgan Stanley is paying more than I'll make at top pay. He's working so hard forwarding e-mail and retyping memos for 4 hours a day. Or I could go back to my degree and return to quality control sampling supervisor at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. 70k to start just for micro pipetting and labeling at the most 5 hours a day.

Myself and just about every other municipal employee didn't pick these careers to get rich. We chose them for long term stability. Paying some idiot 70k because his thumb works and he can read is where money is being wasted. Paying another idiot (I love my cousin but he's dumb) 60k to read and type is still more waste. All this bullshit is paid for by us. The same taxpaying bums funding the pensions are paying for over priced pharmaceuticals and all of Wall Streets largess.

Please excuse this post if its a little tough to read, but I'm doing back to back to back doubles because I only take home 48% of my check after taxes, health insurance, pension, union, 457 retirement plan, and my metrocard. Out of that I have to pay more for my little one bedroom, nearly double the electric rate, 10% more for food and 10 to 20 cents more per gallon for gas all for the privilege of living amongst New York's most elite... in Washington Heights. I'm sorry if my pension has caused you to lose any sleep 99subi.

Public school teachers make more than private school teachers do ,MUCH more, especially at top pay.Look it up. As far as cops,ems police resting, well they are paid to deal with s*** when it hits the fan, so on down time aside from other work responsibilities thats what id expect,i think its well desrved rest.Frankly is none of my damn bussiness what they do on their downtime. DPW on he other hand, thats a 7-3 job to perform duties needed in the town, i should not see any of them sleeping on the job. If there isnt enough work for them to do, then maybe the town overhired and needs to reconsider.If you were a private sector worker and you were cuaght sleeping you'd be fired.If you went to Morgan STanley or Wyeth you would be in the private sector, which is not taxpayer funded.Those Salaries do not effect the taxpayer. You are not cuasing me to lose any sleep. like i said. FIRE EMS and POLICE desevre what they get. The problem is the rest of em. ITs not sustainable.

[antiquefirelt 994]

Public school teachers make more than private school teachers do ,MUCH more, especially at top pay.Look it up. As far as cops,ems police resting, well they are paid to deal with s*** when it hits the fan, so on down time aside from other work responsibilities thats what id expect,i think its well desrved rest.Frankly is none of my damn bussiness what they do on their downtime. DPW on he other hand, thats a 7-3 job to perform duties needed in the town, i should not see any of them sleeping on the job. If there isnt enough work for them to do, then maybe the town overhired and needs to reconsider.If you were a private sector worker and you were cuaght sleeping you'd be fired.If you went to Morgan STanley or Wyeth you would be in the private sector, which is not taxpayer funded.Those Salaries do not effect the taxpayer. You are not cuasing me to lose any sleep. like i said. FIRE EMS and POLICE desevre what they get. The problem is the rest of em. ITs not sustainable.

Your taking an overly simplistic view of things that fits the current political wind. Taxpayers are consumers and consumers most certainly are affected by the efficiency of bring goods and services to market. While it's not an easy sell to defend DPW guys sleeping on the job, have you looked into how much forced OT they're working? This winter has shown the previous years mistakes in short staffing DPW in my area. The DPW guys work snow removal all night then need to work on the standard projects by day, with far less downtime than ever before. If a dump truck driver is awaiting his body being filled I'd think the educated taxpayer would excuse a cat nap...

[99subi 121]

Ill have to snap some shots of these clowns in the town i work in. Its not the napping when your getting filled, its the times you catch the truck on a dead end road faced into the corner with guys sleeping for hours on end.

[27east 19]

So the people who made it big ,got rich and wont spend it are to blame here? Mr Moore is a complete pinhead. Tell him to loan out some of his 20 million he has...... sure he'd be more than happy to..........

As far as pensions go. In my eyes, the only people who should receive TAX PAYER FUNDED pensions are FIRE,EMS , and POLICE. Why should teachers get it? they don't risk their lives on a daily basis, in fact half of them just spew out left wing garble to students.why should DPW workers get it? heck half those fat slobs don't do a damn thing from7-3 i have even caught a few sleeping.(yes i know not all are fat slobs)

I'm glad you think so highly of "the fat slobs" at DPW. Do you like garbage/recycling pickup? Street and traffic lights that work? Snow removal, road repair, park maintenance? Free flowing sewers and clean water supply? You must be kidding with that. Its ignorant. You want to work on the back of a garbage truck for 30 years and not have anything? What happens when sewage backs up into your home on a holiday weekend?

Must be real nice in your world.