[PLD]

Originally Posted by CarolinaProWash

Phillip, I am surprised to hear this coming from you! Reclamation is an issue that technically, is already in place through the CWA. It is our responsibility to work with those guidelines to best serve our industry.

Celeste,

Don't ask me why I never saw your reply 'til just now, but I did not. My apologies for seeming if I had ignored it. That said here's my reply;

First, I'm not against recalmation per-se. However, I am totally against *any* business/entity that seeks to use the color of law to improve their own position, and weaken that of another. Be it WalMart/eminient domain, or PWNA/reclamation such actions serve no purpose than bastardize the process of a government of laws for personal gain. And I find that personally quite offensive. Furthermore, I would be willing to bet my last nickel that despite much rhetoric to the contrary, you won't find more than one or two PW's out of a hundred who actually give a d**n about the effect on our watersheds. The rest either push reclamation for their own purposes or only seek to have some control over the process (as you have mentioned). And neither the PWNA nor any chapter that seeks to play that game will receive anything from me but bitter opposition.


That said, let's move on the issue of regulation and our role therein.

Originally Posted by CarolinaProWash

If pressure washers don't step up to the plate and handle our corner of wastewater, then some other uninformed jackleg will do it for us and we may wind up with something far worse than just reclamation!

Celeste, at the risk of sounding extremely rude (not intended) I'm going to be as frank as possible in my response to avoid any ambiguity the might result from beating around the bush. That said... Statements like yours make it perfectly clear who is uninformed regarding how to play the federal regulatory game. Furthermore, it makes it very clear that their efforts at manipulating the PW lobby are having precisely the intended effect.

After many years of involvement in the banking industry, the LD telephone business, and participating in a sport that is *now* (unfortunately) heavily regulated by the Fed govt, I have a bit of experience with how the regulation game is played. And based that experience, allow me to offer this;

First, federal politics is league reserved for men who are profesionals at the game. And like a professional baseball player, they play it so well that they make it look easy to you and I. It is not until you actually step up to the plate and try to hit that 97mph slider that you realize you can't hit a ball you cannot even see coming. And it's only after you have missed 15-20 in a row that you begin to become aware that you couldn't even hit the bat boy's pitches at this level of play.

This game is not for 'fun-sies' It's played for money and power by people who play for keeps. And they wany ALL the power and ALL the money. If you try to play in their league, you will be hustled. You will be manipulated into a position where you believe that you are making headway and friends that will serve your needs. At the end of the game, you will find that your confidence, your time/effort, and your money has been taken and used to further their quest. They sought NOTHING but total domination. You will also find that although you believed that their cause and yours were in alignment all along, nothing could ever have been further from the truth. You will truly understand what it means to be violated and used.

Originally Posted by CarolinaProWash

Having a voice in the decision making process is far better than sitting back doing nothing then whining about what's wrong...it's kinda like not voting then *****ing about government.

Actually, it's nothing at all like that. Votes are black and white. They are difficult to manipulate for political gain. It's more like trying to buy a car marked $2000 by making an opening offer of $1950 AND telling the buyer you will *not* go over $2500. At the end of the game, the the seller gets $2250 and you walk away excited about how you "saved" $250. You lost before you even started playing.

Originally Posted by CarolinaProWash

it's going to be enforced

An assumption that you have been lead to believe (bad cop) so you will be more pliable when offerred a "better deal" (good cop). There are policemen that lurk here, ask them to explain the less obvious subtleties of real world good cop/bad cop. It's an extremely powerful psychological tool and is rarely played out as obviously as it is on TV drama shows.

And if you truly believe that enforcement is a real possibility, use the City of Atlanta as your alarm bell. They have been under sanction since before 1980 (25+ years) for dumping BILLIONS of gallons of raw sewage into the Chattahoochee watershed (Ga/Fl/Al's drinking water). To date, they have been fined a TOTAL of 23 million dollars by the EPA. As soon as you see them get serious there, start getting worried.

Originally Posted by CarolinaProWash

at present the PWNA is trying to keep the pressure washers' voice loud in the decision making and how all of it is done.

So what you are saying is that Brer Fox has a two hand grip on Brer Rabbit and is ready to toss him into the briar patch...


Even a first year public defender knows to start with "no guilty" and work from there. If we are serious about workable reclamation legislation, then start by demanding NO reclamation. Justify that decision and then negotiate to where you wish to be. If you try start negotiations from a position of reason, you will end up far beyond where you wished to be.

Philip