The Chicago Way
Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence
at the White House. One is
from Chicago, another is from Kentucky, and the
third is from New Orleans.
All three go with a White House Official to
examine the fence. The New Orleans
contractor takes out a tape measure and
does some measuring, then works
some figures with a pencil. Well, he says, I
figure the job will run about
$9,000. That's $4,000 for materials, $4,000
for my crew and $1,000 profit for
me. The Kentucky contractor also does some
measuring, I can do this job for
$7,000. That's $3,000 for materials, $3,000
for my crew and $1,000 profit for
me.
The Chicago contractor doesn't
measure or figure, but leans over to the White
House Official and whispers,
$27,000. The official, incredulous, says, you
didn't even measure like the
other guys. How did you come up with such a
high figure? The Chicago
contractor whispers back, $10,000 for me, $10,000
for you, and we hire the
guy from Kentucky to fix the fence.
"Done!" replied the government
official.
And that, my friends, is how the Government Stimulus plan
worked!!!
Remember... Four boxes keep us free: the soap box, the ballot
box, the jury
box, and the cartridge box.