During the last People's Congress of Roofing....Well I lied. As Tip O'Neill used to say "all politics is local." And that is true of the political side of the roofing universe too.
Take our national organization, the NRCA. Try as it may it cannot bust through to the issues dear to us. No Department of Roofing exists in Washington D.C., yet, but many states regulate roofing. We do fall under OSHA and EPA rules especially lead removal and containment regulations for homes older than 1978.
Texas does not regulate roofing. Dallas, Irving, Plano, Farmers Branch, Ennis, Richardson, Grand Prairie, Highland Park, University Park, and Colleyville require registration and permit fees. These so called licenses are no more than taxes. The check clears the bank and you've passed the test. You have to have a license to be a plumber, to install sprinkler systems, and tow cars but to fix foundations or roofs you don't need squat. Don't fix those two things and who cares about the plumbing. You have no home.
Believe it or not, it's about the money. The insurance board is staffed with insurers and they want to keep the cost of roofing down. Your carrier may tell you to be careful and pick an insured reputable roofer but the insurance claim pays the same per line item unit to professionals and carpetbaggers alike. Not fair! Life's not fair either and no matter how hard politicians try, they can't make it fair. They only know fares.
Why would a roofing contractor in Dallas, who pays his registration, has insurance, keeps a full time office and staff, is a member of the BBB, Angie's List, and is a Master Elite Roofer for GAF get the same price from State Farm or Allstate as Pick-Up Bob's Roofing (be careful, the ink on the card is still wet)?
Many contractors will go to their grave hoping and having believed all their lives that they could bring state regulation down upon them even though they hate these sort of things. These types exist throughout the political spectrum whether they want the border to be controlled (by someone other than coyotes) or Maryjane to be legalized. Ain't gonna happen.
See, if the state tried to protect the citizens from the massive hordes of migrating roof putter-oners, the price would go up. This would cost the insurance companies more money.
We used to say the quality would go up and that would save insurers some of their hard earned cash but the insurers beat us to it. The day of the $250.00 deductible is way back in the rear view mirror and has been replaced by 2% milk. It looks like milk but it tastes like water. We'll just buy some out of habit and go on like nothing has happened. Soon the roof will not even be covered. Some policies have non-recoverable depreciation and an 80/20 plan is coming down the pike to finish off what the deductible and depreciation haven't.
Here's your check mam.
Next thing you know the gov will tax this to.
Whatever political roof problems others states have, I'm not quite sure but I have heard that Oklahoma has sealed its borders so that roofers act like real people or leave.
They even started concentration camps and have started summery executions. What a fantasy for Texas.
The Red River should be a DMZ.
It'd take the Lieutenant Governor getting ripped off by a roofer before that would happen here but it's pretty hard to rip someone off when their roof is free. No one in Austin has paid for a roof since Texas Independence and it ain't about to start happening now.
Today's lesson is clear. The powers that be will not tolerate the possibility of lesser profits.
The same is true of solar. They look so magnanimous starting funds, that remain empty most of the time, to subsidize solar equipment and passing out tax breaks, but if anyone messes with the benevolent electricity providers by suggesting net metering, the one thing that would make solar investments truly an investment, he might start swimming with those Oklahoma fishys.
The electric companies pretend to be green but if you try to take away their money you better go hide. The oil companies only wish to be so ruthless.
Why can't the electricity that my solar panel makes while I'm away at work just go into the grid and let my meter run backwards. Why not? What would it do? Keep them from building a new coal fired plant? A dam, that catches you know who in Oklahoma?
How about lowering pollution in Dallas? How about stopping tar balls, which are really more like asphalt, from inundating the beaches of Texas to Florida. Tell those guys to put their pants on. Nobody dares say, Cuba? War! Where's Teddy "the tar" Roosevelt" when you need him. He might have encircled Cuba with tar for the heck of it. Guess where he got his nickname?
If my meter could run backwards I'd dance in the backyard until the cows come home. And that will never happen. I mean net metering.
Those greedy basters are going to leave us out in the cold in order to protect their fat wallets.
Yes I'm ranting. I'll calm down now.
It is a crime against man and nature, besides Texas and all her citizens ( and the immigrants too) that we have to give the electric providers money, breath polluted air, build huge nuclear power plants (which we haven't done in decades exacerbating the problem) and digging up huge deposits of coal that destroy the topography and, in the end, the air your darling little baby daughter breathes, because these selfish tyrants won't let me throw a few photons into their grid.
Politics is local. Some roofers are too but not many. Until we band together as one we'll keep on destroying the planet with senseless (as opposed to intelligent) greed.
Does anybody want to install a solar electric system on their home and help with the environethics of their neighborhood?
I'll edit this later when I have some time.
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And that's the way it is. Goodnight.
www.jonwrightroofing.com
