Right on the money. At least from where I sit.

I am buried in work, work that I normally would have someone else do while I was on the golf course. The peole who work for me are buried to the point that they just look at me like I am Satan himself when I walk into their offices. They aren't getting raises, and neither am I. We are just trying to get ourselves in position for the next downturn. I don't worry at all about them leaving, because there is 100 people out there who will step in and take that job at a lower pay rate.

I could hire, but the new reality that the great recession triggered has me way gun shy even though I shouldn't be. I think this is true for a lot of companies, especially service-based businesses.

For the bigger companies who I work for, I have seen several projects that would provide hundreds of construction jobs, and 50+ permanent jobs get shelved for the same exact reasons: Uncertainty in the regulatory and tax arenas.

Thanks for this thread, sometimes typing out your thoughts can lead to a perspective change.