Doug Black

When a cut is not a cut
By Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) - 08/01/11 12:15 PM ET
One might think that the recent drama over the debt ceiling involves one side wanting to increase or maintain spending with the other side wanting to drastically cut spending, but that is far from the truth. In spite of the rhetoric being thrown around, the real debate is over how much government spending will increase.
No plan under serious consideration cuts spending in the way you and I think about it. Instead, the "cuts" being discussed are illusory, and are not cuts from current amounts being spent, but cuts in projected spending increases. This is akin to a family "saving" $100,000 in expenses by deciding not to buy a Lamborghini, and instead getting a fully loaded Mercedes, when really their budget dictates that they need to stick with their perfectly serviceable Honda. But this is the type of math Washington uses to mask the incriminating truth about their unrepentant plundering of the American people.
The truth is that frightening rhetoric about default and full faith and credit of the United States is being carelessly thrown around to ram through a bigger budget than ever, in spite of stagnant revenues. If your family's income did not change year over year, would it be wise financial management to accelerate spending so you would feel richer? That is what our government is doing, with one side merely suggesting a different list of purchases than the other.In reality, bringing our fiscal house into order is not that complicated or excruciatingly painful at all. If we simply kept spending at current levels, by their definition of "cuts" that would save nearly $400 billion in the next few years, versus the $25 billion the Budget Control Act claims to "cut". It would only take us 5 years to "cut" $1 trillion, in Washington math, just by holding the line on spending. That is hardly austere or catastrophic.
A balanced budget is similarly simple and within reach if Washington had just a tiny amount of fiscal common sense. Our revenues currently stand at approximately $2.2 trillion a year and are likely to remain stagnant as the recession continues. Our outlays are $3.7 trillion and projected to grow every year. Yet we only have to go back to 2004 for federal outlays of $2.2 trillion, and the government was far from small that year. If we simply returned to that year's spending levels, which would hardly be austere, we would have a balanced budget right now. If we held the line on spending, and the economy actually did grow as estimated, the budget would balance on its own by 2015 with no cuts whatsoever.
We pay 35 percent more for our military today than we did 10 years ago, for the exact same capabilities. The same could be said for the rest of the government. Why has our budget doubled in 10 years? This country doesn't have double the population, or double the land area, or double anything that would require the federal government to grow by such an obscene amount.
In Washington terms, a simple freeze in spending would be a much bigger "cut" than any plan being discussed. If politicians simply cannot bear to implement actual cuts to actual spending, just freezing the budget would give the economy the best chance to catch its breath, recover and grow.

I consider softwash under 500 psi. No pressure under 100 psi. Low pressure under 1500 psi. As measured as the tip.
I thought you were talking about softwashing since that's the title of your topic.
There are also people who just spray through a pump with "no pressure". They are also calling this "softwash" . The RCIA was trying to bash power washing last year and spreading fear about it in order to promote this type of cleaning.

Many people helped me starting out and I am more than happy to return the favor now for those who seek it.

Good conversation. Chappy its a good biz decision. I also recently stopped turning away deck painting jobs. I explain the cost of stripping and sanding and if the deck is elevated I than follow up with I do not offer the service on elevated decks anyway. I than proceed to submit a proposal based on the customers reaction to the information. 9.99 is precarb, scrap and paint (only on prior painted decks). Here is the crazy thing since so many people only push oil in my county and painters do not successfully market deck refinishing I charge more per sqft than hydroxide and AC stain due to slower application (paint is slower to apply). I prefer oil application but biz growth is more important. I'm a certified appraiser and develop 200-300 reports a year and the biz has gone to the toilet due to nasty regs and knee jerk reactions. Submitting a proposal to paint a deck where I control ever thing is far better than dealing with say the mortgage industry. I hope in the near future for deck refinishing and other home improvement services to carry my family with appraisal and inspection work as bonus money. For example, I gave a proposal and have already finished the job on a town home where my main competitor refused to offer anything other than strip and oil. The town home was FOR SALE!!!!! Amazing. My opinion is perform many services covering many market segments.

It does not have to be rust, the iron in the soil is what gives it the red color and that is rust. Just not what you are used to seeing.

On new cedar less than 6 months old i would not use a pre-carb cleaner and do not. It raises the grain and scrubbing it will raise the grain more. 6 month old cedar will not take 2 coats of Ready Seal . It will take one coat. The wood has to be a year old before it can take two. On new cedar like yours a bleach solution works much better to kill the mildew and just a rinse with a garden hose as not to affect the surface of the wood because removing this surface will allow less oil to penetrate.
Fixing your problem- Ready Seal doesn't get sticky but you over applied the product . After a couple of rain storms the oil on top should wash away or you can wipe it down with mineral spirits.
Note- you didn't read any of my post for cedar! lol