What the hell is going on with shops?

So if I need work on my Barracuda now I have to pay for all your fancy scanners so you can work on a new Honda? Or the topic of this tread in the first place, you need all those scanners to fix a slave cylinder? I still challenge you to post some book times for common jobs so we can see how clueless I am. It is COMMON in shops for a single tech to write up 16 hours worth of work in the day and then work 9-5. I know the tax write offs don't cover the costs totally but it does cover a portion. Basically all those costs you mention come right off the highest tax bracket you make it to.
Like I said in the beginning, I don't mind paying a fair price for good work. I just want transparency and a little less spin. Like I said I have had a shop do a job, seen the labor time they wrote down, then did the same job myself and beat it with no experience and simple hand tools. Maybe that's not common but as I pointed out then why are there techs out there writing up 16 hours worth of work and working 8 hours? That is rhetorical, I realize why it happens, you explained it, it's how you cover up for the fact you just need to charge $300/hr to keep a profit. I'm fine with that, I say just charge $300/hr and be done with it!
As far as me I deliver mail to at least 1100 houses every day, usually 6 days a week, 45-55 hours/wk on average. I live in a below average for our area $185,000 home with a couple 5-10 year old cars, a 30 year old boat, and a 20 year old truck camper. To get this job I worked 11 years in the navy as a nuclear hydro electric machinery mechanic and chemist 60-80 hours a week and my highest earnings year was $24,000. I too haven't gotten a raise in over 2 years and have to pay more for all that stuff just like you do, at least I voted for the other guy, LOL! I pay entirely too many taxes also as have to deal with more government bureaucracy then you can imagine as well. I'm sure you would think my job easy as well, but everything is until you actually do it!
Good luck, sorry to offend your honest and fair work standards, obviously you are not the problem out there. that said you are the clueless ones if you deny the shams that go on in the auto repair world.