patrick.net

Privatization if is not held accountable does lead to fraud, but government doesn't behave honestly either.

The fact that politically connected organizations are living in the lap of luxury while everyone else is paying for it is not a secret.

Wait a minute, are you saying Republicans have a patent on Privatization?

The good thing about corrupt Government ran administrations, is future administrations can bring them to accountability.
Where as privatization, is swept under the rug, to end the crumb trail of fraud. Most wrong doing in privatization ends up as an oversight verdict. It's just chalked up as a "Slip up" or "Blip".

The remedy is always more privatization and outsourcing. Because other politicians see the protection having a private middle man affords.

kentm says

what it is that conservatives are really after

pay-for-play services.

You get all the services you can afford, and not one drop more.

Agreed. Cheney's friends make out like bandits, but it's OK because it's PRIVATE contractors not government employees.

Privatiation is just a way for politicans to award their cronies and bust unions. Every time i read an article about privatization, it usually includes the words "prosecutors allege"

Bellingham Bill says

kentm says

what it is that conservatives are really after

pay-for-play services.

You get all the services you can afford, and not one drop more.

“Nessuna soluzione . . . nessun problema!„

All our government is a pay-to-play system. They are the shakedown artists.

Kent is making a mistake thinking only Republicans are corrupt. Problem is on both sides. Democrats have been raiding the nation when Obama took office at extraordinary levels too.

The Annenberg project was founded by Ambassador Annenberg.. Ronald Reagan's former ambassador to England. Funny how shrek is ignorant of those little facts.

FortWayne says

Problem is on both sides. Democrats have been raiding the nation when Obama took office at extraordinary levels too.

Funny how Republicans talk about "equal corruption" but it's never Republicans they want to bring up on ethics charges.

No I don't make the mistake of thinking only republicans are corrupt. What a gross simplification and there's nothing in this post or any of the others i've made to support that kind of idle chatter. But as a general note, time and again I'm repulsed by the blatant hypocrisy of the standard conservative positions and the general total lack of factual historical support for their ideologies, and then their pretty much complete reliance on very selectively chosen talking points taken out of context to further their discussions. It's simply the standard MO of that political party at the current moment in time. Privatization is simply the latest push by conservatives to further an agenda of which the goal has absolutely nothing to do with the usual talking points its sold with.

Regarding "privatization", the resulting failures in accountability and quality, as shown in study after study, SHOULD be pointing the way toward re-examining this entire movement, IF the real goals were what they say they were. But of course they're not.

HousingWatcher says

The Annenberg project was founded by Ambassador Annenberg.. Ronald Reagan's former ambassador to England. Funny how shrek is ignorant of those little facts.

Oh snap. Nice catch, HW. Shriek, why do you keep trying? It's just absolutely painful at this point. Or... is it that you knew this and selectively chose your talking point, hoping no one would notice? So which is it in this case, ass or idiot?

Bellingham Bill says

pay-for-play services.

You get all the services you can afford, and not one drop more.

I was going to ignore this but instead it seems to me to be rather be at the heart of the matter. So I'll ask you, as a social experiment would you then be willing to pay the full cost of any police or fire dept support you require, all the salaries and fees associated with the direct time alotment, factored to your specific usage divided by the number of calls over the year?... Would you be willing to pay the full costs of the highways you use, or the costs it takes to support the utilities, gas, sewage, electrics... Would you? Probaly not, I sure wouldn't, the direct and immediate costs would be huge.

Your mistake is that you forget how deeply and widely spread the costs associated with these services are and how much the services have contibuted to the general stability and culture we all enjoy. You imagine that somehow you're being shafted by any and all of the other folks who use these services, that somehow you're the magic one who is heroically contributing more to these systems than anyone else, that you're a powerful individual, a great tree standing tall, who would stand alone and powerful, if only the crushing system would let you... But this is the dream of a six year old who has no idea of the supporting systems that have allowed them to grow as they have, you forget that you were nurtured in a forest, shaded and protected by other trees before you were able to break free and rise up. Your dream stinks, it's the dream of a six year old who reads too many Conan the barbarian comic books.

Or is it that you do get it that its partially the system and services that have supported your culture amd life up to this point that have allowed you to raise yourself to whatever level of security and comfort it is that you've been able to achieve and you now choose to try to deny that level of security and comfort to others, so as to choke off any potential competition you feel may threaten your security?

Again, in the context of the paragraphs above I think the same question I put to shriek applies here as well: which are you in this scenario, idiot or asshole?

And that folks is why I attack the conservatives more than the democrats, because most of them are blatantly selfish assholes but simply will not admit it, hiding instead behind arguments of how their actions support 'the greater good' etc etc, when studies and facts clearly show otherwise. If they would just come out and say "I'm actually in it for ME!" then I would have less of a problem with it and we could all just have an honest argument.