Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Obama's Ignorance Regarding Construction

By Douglas V. Gibbs

In Obama's speech to congratulate the federal government for compromising on a very bad budget plan (which was no compromise at all. . . ) he said something he has said before, but this time it finally tipped me over the edge. . .

Obama today talked about putting construction workers that lost jobs due to the housing crash to work with new jobs doing things like roads, and other infrastructure work.

This is how stupid the President is. He talks like he knows what he is talking about, and instead he opens his mouth and confirms he's an idiot.

Does Obama think that there is no difference between residential construction and highway construction?

For example:

What I did in construction was highly specialized, and specifically only good for residential construction. For thirteen years I worked in the construction industry trenching the foundations for residential structures. The job is so complex that the entry position of line puller takes a year before it is mastered enough to allow the oiler to work without close supervision - and even then the operator really needs to keep an eye on him.

As an operator, like I was for nine of those thirteen years, you must layout the house based on two points given (sometimes those points were not points at all, but the 20 and 80 along the lot line). Geometry is used to square the house up, position it, and figure out the measurements. Offsets must be included in the dimensions. Then the steel is driven into the ground with a sledge hammer.

Once the house is laid out, operating the trencher requires reading the plans (blueprints), converting whole number to inches, sloping ditches, adding deepened footings, and digging the structure in such a way that all of the dirt is pulled out of the interior - all while constantly moving the machine because the company gets paid by the foot. This also must be done with a half inch margin of error in offset, and depth.

It took a hell of a lot more thinking than I had to worry about as a loan counselor for a credit union.

These skills take years to learn, and an ability to multi-task in ways you can't even imagine, to ensure the task is accomplished quickly, cleanly, and accurately - all while in the heat of the sun, wearing a hard hat, long pants, and keeping an eye on the oiler and tractor man to make sure they are not screwing up their jobs as well.

This is not a skill easily learned, and it is not something that can be simply carried over into highway construction. Obama's stimulus, or highway shovel ready jobs, will not put to work construction workers that lost work due to the slowdown. That will only happen when housing picks up. His new construction plans only puts highway construction folks to work.

I completely changed my career about three years ago to driving a sand and gravel transfer big rig to survive (making a third of what I made in construction when things were good).

Obama figures all those that lost work in residential construction are sitting around on their butts over the last few years without work, just looking for any ol' construction job.

What an idiot.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

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