What DOES the US Fed. Govt do Well?

[flacaltenn]

Infrastructure is another....This is something shared by all and has to be down by the government...Also it is cheaper when done this way.....

Is that why Trump has found dozens of private entities that WANT to build new airports, bridges, pipelines, etc?
Hardly any infrastructure that couldn't be planned and operated at the state/private level.. SHOULD be planned at those levels. All Wash does is cut checks and wait to see if they should take credit or hide when a "bridge to nowhere" gets built on a Fed dime..

Private entities won't bite on "High Speed Rail" between San Fran and LA because it would never be "high speed" or affordable. If it's THOSE kind of boongoogles --- then you're correct. Only the Fed Govt is dumb enough to help fund those..

 

[miketx]

Spending other peoples money and producing brain dead media fed liberal imbeciles.

 

[Pete7469]

Seriously. Is there ANYTHING that they do as well as you might want or expect? Even those things that ARE their PRIMARY Constitutional Duties.. Like the organization and the production of Congress. Or immigration and borders. Or assuring fair and legal elections? Even the maintenance and use of the Military -- which was NOT envisioned in the Constitution as a "standing army"..

And of the stuff that leadership has GRABBED the power to dabble in -- like picking winners and losers in the marketplace, or our new 9/11 domestic spying operation or even the operation of the IRS as an ENFORCEMENT arm of health care policy.

Why is it that so people tend to look to the Feds to micromanage every detail of life. Because WASH is full of the "best and brightest" humble, yet brilliant problem-solvers qualified to fix stuff efficiently and KEEP it fixed?

Ever see ONE Cong. Hearing that resolved anything at all?

Give me examples of WHY folks believe the Fed Govt deserves to keep EXPANDING it's control, it's budget, and it's EFFECT on our lives. The health of the country is suffering over POWER BATTLES for control of this Swampy Monster. It MUST BE just pricelessly IMPORTANT ---- RIGHT???

The 10th Amendment needs to be enforced. States need to be doing the shit they've passed the buck on. The feds should merely be arbitrators between the states, and the union and international entities. I don't think there should be an armed federal agent except US Marshals and they should have an extremely limited scope. We shouldn't have DEA agents running around in Afghanistan or anywhere else for that matter. The beast is way out of control and these agencies need to be phased out. We don't even need a massive standing army anymore, we can keep troops deployed along the border and at strategic areas, with enough to maintain a training cycle of the National Guard units annual training. We need a large navy and strategic air forces and no one can **** with us. Once we stop ******* around in the ME they'll all blow themselves to hell with conventional weapons we can sell them.

The problem is you'd be killing way too many well connected people's prized pigs. They need MORE money... always.

 

[flacaltenn]

But yet you're here everyday -- arguing about "the results"...

I don't think I've seen one really serious response from the Left. Am I picking on them? Sure. Because if ANYONE actually believes "it's all good" and wants MORE of this --- there's only a couple reasons for their naive denial..

It's so easy to say "the gov sucks". Sure it ain't perfect , but is it really that bad? You imply private companies do things better , but there's endless stories of private industry **** ups .

It's just such an easy, and lazy move to shit on the government.

When private companies **** up -- they lose market share. Maybe even get sued. People get fired.
You **** up in govt -- they give your dept more money and promote you..
Govt can't track VIsa immigrants -- MasterCard could..

I asked simple questions. Which ONE of their duties -- or the stuff they've appropriated the power to do --- do they DO WELL?? With insight, dilligience, creativity and efficiency?

I'll bite . Let's go with post office . Which is now quasi government.

USPS is more NON -- than govt.. It's also an endangered species because of the "federal oversight" that limits their creativity and innovation to survive. I give 15 years MAX.. Before hardly ANYTHING gets to your "mailbox"..

When a corporation faces that kind of extinction event, they don't just keep making the buggy whips and wait for the doors to close.. Can't even really SELL the USPS to anyone -- can ya?

MAYBE --- Amazon would love to have it. MAYBE -- they'll pay more than it's actually worth..

USPS is more NON -- than govt.. It's also an endangered species because of the "federal oversight" that limits their creativity and innovation to survive. I give 15 years MAX.. Before hardly ANYTHING gets to your "mailbox"..
as a former worker i have to agree with this.....if Congress would let the people who run the PO actually run it,they would be way ahead of UPS and Fedx....they have to get permission to do anything to keep ahead or just keep up with everyone else,and sometimes it takes years.....and from what i have seen Amazon is doing great with the PO....

Bless you man... Shall we start a "Save the USPS" meme?? Someone needs to worry about their future prospects. DC doesn't give a ****... It'll keep slogging that pony when Amazon is dropping mail into their OWN box by Drone...

Amazon is gonna eat them -- one way or another... How come WE SEE THAT -- and yet no one in Cong. Hearing ever gets up and bangs on the table and gets folks attention????

 

[Pete7469]

Which is a LOT of what they do. Solving problems that THEY created. Or ignoring problems until they BECOME crises..

Actually, they don't come near solving the problems they create.

 

[Harry Dresden]

You got me on that one... I don't know wasting taxpayer money?

So is it ME? Or do the 2 parties have everyone angry at EACH OTHER instead of AT THEM?? Ain't that a wonderful and masterful scam of some sorts?

Actually, I'm sandbagging a bit. Polarizing the electorate against each other is a BUILT-IN FEATURE of 2 party politics that has gone on too long..

As a conservative my hatred of GOP RINO lying corrupt bastards is alive and well, I hate them and the left equally.

and yet you dont hate the far right basterds as well....

I believe he said he did. That would be a healthier attitude than allowing the 2 Dynasty parties to play you against each other..

all i seen was RINO and the left....

 

[BluesLegend]

Seriously. Is there ANYTHING that they do as well as you might want or expect? Even those things that ARE their PRIMARY Constitutional Duties.. Like the organization and the production of Congress. Or immigration and borders. Or assuring fair and legal elections? Even the maintenance and use of the Military -- which was NOT envisioned in the Constitution as a "standing army"..

And of the stuff that leadership has GRABBED the power to dabble in -- like picking winners and losers in the marketplace, or our new 9/11 domestic spying operation or even the operation of the IRS as an ENFORCEMENT arm of health care policy.

Why is it that so people tend to look to the Feds to micromanage every detail of life. Because WASH is full of the "best and brightest" humble, yet brilliant problem-solvers qualified to fix stuff efficiently and KEEP it fixed?

Ever see ONE Cong. Hearing that resolved anything at all?

Give me examples of WHY folks believe the Fed Govt deserves to keep EXPANDING it's control, it's budget, and it's EFFECT on our lives. The health of the country is suffering over POWER BATTLES for control of this Swampy Monster. It MUST BE just pricelessly IMPORTANT ---- RIGHT???

I love these idiot threads....

the federal government runs the military, social security, the US mail, environmental regulation (or did until the orange sociopath).... anti-trust laws, anti-discrimination laws, medicare, Medicaid.... workplace safety, arts and science funding....

and that's just off the top of my head.

prior to social security over 50% of our senior citizens lived in poverty.

you know, all of the things that trump loons get cranky about

Actually, Soc Sec is bankrupt because we allowed Congress to steal surpluses from working poor for 40 years and now the Treasury is floating NEW DEBT to cover the theft from the same victims. Most EVERYTHING you mentioned (except the US mail which they CLAIM isn't US anymore) has been poorly implemented, managed and for the most part UNDIRECTED by Congress for decades. When was the last big Anti-Trust case? The Feds have BY DESIGN forced MASSIVE consolidation in the Banking Industry and NOW they want to solve that.

Which is a LOT of what they do. Solving problems that THEY created. Or ignoring problems until they BECOME crises..

Congress told us they were only "borrowing" the SS surplus money, I always wondered how they planned to pay it back...increase taxes and collect the money a 2nd time? Say I borrow $10 from you, then tax you $10 then hand that back and claim we are even...now you know just how corrupt government has become.

the funny thing is that if I ever "borrowed" money from my employees' retirement funds and then paid it back with the contributions of other employees when the first employee retired my ass would wind up in jail in a heartbeat but somehow it's OK for the government to do just that very thing.

agents of the government are legally sanctioned to lie to you with impunity but you lie to a government agent and your ass winds up in jail

there really is something not right about this shit, no?

Its worse, congress was for a long time allowed to engage in insider trading, using upcoming legislation to place bets in the market. How fast do they throw citizens in prison for that?

 

[BluesLegend]

Seriously. Is there ANYTHING that they do as well as you might want or expect? Even those things that ARE their PRIMARY Constitutional Duties.. Like the organization and the production of Congress. Or immigration and borders. Or assuring fair and legal elections? Even the maintenance and use of the Military -- which was NOT envisioned in the Constitution as a "standing army"..

And of the stuff that leadership has GRABBED the power to dabble in -- like picking winners and losers in the marketplace, or our new 9/11 domestic spying operation or even the operation of the IRS as an ENFORCEMENT arm of health care policy.

Why is it that so people tend to look to the Feds to micromanage every detail of life. Because WASH is full of the "best and brightest" humble, yet brilliant problem-solvers qualified to fix stuff efficiently and KEEP it fixed?

Ever see ONE Cong. Hearing that resolved anything at all?

Give me examples of WHY folks believe the Fed Govt deserves to keep EXPANDING it's control, it's budget, and it's EFFECT on our lives. The health of the country is suffering over POWER BATTLES for control of this Swampy Monster. It MUST BE just pricelessly IMPORTANT ---- RIGHT???

I love these idiot threads....

the federal government runs the military, social security, the US mail, environmental regulation (or did until the orange sociopath).... anti-trust laws, anti-discrimination laws, medicare, Medicaid.... workplace safety, arts and science funding....

and that's just off the top of my head.

prior to social security over 50% of our senior citizens lived in poverty.

you know, all of the things that trump loons get cranky about

Actually, Soc Sec is bankrupt because we allowed Congress to steal surpluses from working poor for 40 years and now the Treasury is floating NEW DEBT to cover the theft from the same victims. Most EVERYTHING you mentioned (except the US mail which they CLAIM isn't US anymore) has been poorly implemented, managed and for the most part UNDIRECTED by Congress for decades. When was the last big Anti-Trust case? The Feds have BY DESIGN forced MASSIVE consolidation in the Banking Industry and NOW they want to solve that.

Which is a LOT of what they do. Solving problems that THEY created. Or ignoring problems until they BECOME crises..

Congress told us they were only "borrowing" the SS surplus money, I always wondered how they planned to pay it back...increase taxes and collect the money a 2nd time? Say I borrow $10 from you, then tax you $10 then hand that back and claim we are even...now you know just how corrupt government has become.

the funny thing is that if I ever "borrowed" money from my employees' retirement funds and then paid it back with the contributions of other employees when the first employee retired my ass would wind up in jail in a heartbeat but somehow it's OK for the government to do just that very thing.

agents of the government are legally sanctioned to lie to you with impunity but you lie to a government agent and your ass winds up in jail

there really is something not right about this shit, no?

What's not right about it --- is the dead silence. NOTHING being said about the fact that we are in that SS crisis that everybody warned about for 40 years. That there is NOTHING OF VALUE in the so-called Trust Fund. And EVEN OBAMA wouldn't defend his deficits because it would call attention to the LIE about Soc Sec sitting on MOUNTAINS of valuable paper in the Trust Fund..

INSTEAD -- the 2 parties have us fighting over the results of an election. Literally banging it every hour of every day. And they offered 2 damaged candidates. EITHER OF which were guaranteed to have a fucked up admin full of contention and resistance.

Nobody intends to do any work in DC. They HAVE what THEY WANT.. And now it's all about the power to operate it for THEIR advantage... To be the executors of that power. To dole out handouts to corporations, groups, foreign entities. To place insurgencies into the Deep Intel areas to harass their competiton.

When is America gonna STOP -- voting for these winners and take back the control of their govt? Is it AFTER the Civil War ---- or before???

SS taxes were raised under Reagan to deal with this very SS crisis, the problem is congress stole all our damn money. I laughed when they opposed Bush suggestion that we could invest part of our SS in the stock market. Congress claimed we might lose money on the investments, what vs them stealing every last dime of my money and spending it?

 

[BluesLegend]

You got me on that one... I don't know wasting taxpayer money?

So is it ME? Or do the 2 parties have everyone angry at EACH OTHER instead of AT THEM?? Ain't that a wonderful and masterful scam of some sorts?

Actually, I'm sandbagging a bit. Polarizing the electorate against each other is a BUILT-IN FEATURE of 2 party politics that has gone on too long..

As a conservative my hatred of GOP RINO lying corrupt bastards is alive and well, I hate them and the left equally.

and yet you dont hate the far right basterds as well....

There is no need to hate a fiscal conservative.

 

[Harry Dresden]

It's so easy to say "the gov sucks". Sure it ain't perfect , but is it really that bad? You imply private companies do things better , but there's endless stories of private industry **** ups .

It's just such an easy, and lazy move to shit on the government.

When private companies **** up -- they lose market share. Maybe even get sued. People get fired.
You **** up in govt -- they give your dept more money and promote you..
Govt can't track VIsa immigrants -- MasterCard could..

I asked simple questions. Which ONE of their duties -- or the stuff they've appropriated the power to do --- do they DO WELL?? With insight, dilligience, creativity and efficiency?

I'll bite . Let's go with post office . Which is now quasi government.

USPS is more NON -- than govt.. It's also an endangered species because of the "federal oversight" that limits their creativity and innovation to survive. I give 15 years MAX.. Before hardly ANYTHING gets to your "mailbox"..

When a corporation faces that kind of extinction event, they don't just keep making the buggy whips and wait for the doors to close.. Can't even really SELL the USPS to anyone -- can ya?

MAYBE --- Amazon would love to have it. MAYBE -- they'll pay more than it's actually worth..

USPS is more NON -- than govt.. It's also an endangered species because of the "federal oversight" that limits their creativity and innovation to survive. I give 15 years MAX.. Before hardly ANYTHING gets to your "mailbox"..
as a former worker i have to agree with this.....if Congress would let the people who run the PO actually run it,they would be way ahead of UPS and Fedx....they have to get permission to do anything to keep ahead or just keep up with everyone else,and sometimes it takes years.....and from what i have seen Amazon is doing great with the PO....

Bless you man... Shall we start a "Save the USPS" meme?? Someone needs to worry about their future prospects. DC doesn't give a ****... It'll keep slogging that pony when Amazon is dropping mail into their OWN box by Drone...

Amazon is gonna eat them -- one way or another... How come WE SEE THAT -- and yet no one in Cong. Hearing ever gets up and bangs on the table and gets folks attention????

the funny part is they ***** about how much money they lose but wont let them make a profit,even just a modest one...

 

[LoneLaugher]

There won't be a viable third party in this nation because there is no need for one.

Everybody who clamors for a third party simply wants a more rigid ideological party than is available now. That's why they don't become viable.

You want to take your small number of libertarian freaks and somehow gain a plurality. You'd be fine with grabbing 35% of the vote in a three way race and then have the 20% of extreme bigots in the GOP join you for an electoral college win.

You are a REPUBLICAN. How about being the charade.

 

[Harry Dresden]

You got me on that one... I don't know wasting taxpayer money?

So is it ME? Or do the 2 parties have everyone angry at EACH OTHER instead of AT THEM?? Ain't that a wonderful and masterful scam of some sorts?

Actually, I'm sandbagging a bit. Polarizing the electorate against each other is a BUILT-IN FEATURE of 2 party politics that has gone on too long..

As a conservative my hatred of GOP RINO lying corrupt bastards is alive and well, I hate them and the left equally.

and yet you dont hate the far right basterds as well....

There is no need to hate a fiscal conservative.

did i say fiscal conservative or the far right asswipes?...

 

[BluesLegend]

I love these idiot threads....

the federal government runs the military, social security, the US mail, environmental regulation (or did until the orange sociopath).... anti-trust laws, anti-discrimination laws, medicare, Medicaid.... workplace safety, arts and science funding....

and that's just off the top of my head.

prior to social security over 50% of our senior citizens lived in poverty.

you know, all of the things that trump loons get cranky about

Actually, Soc Sec is bankrupt because we allowed Congress to steal surpluses from working poor for 40 years and now the Treasury is floating NEW DEBT to cover the theft from the same victims. Most EVERYTHING you mentioned (except the US mail which they CLAIM isn't US anymore) has been poorly implemented, managed and for the most part UNDIRECTED by Congress for decades. When was the last big Anti-Trust case? The Feds have BY DESIGN forced MASSIVE consolidation in the Banking Industry and NOW they want to solve that.

Which is a LOT of what they do. Solving problems that THEY created. Or ignoring problems until they BECOME crises..

Congress told us they were only "borrowing" the SS surplus money, I always wondered how they planned to pay it back...increase taxes and collect the money a 2nd time? Say I borrow $10 from you, then tax you $10 then hand that back and claim we are even...now you know just how corrupt government has become.

the funny thing is that if I ever "borrowed" money from my employees' retirement funds and then paid it back with the contributions of other employees when the first employee retired my ass would wind up in jail in a heartbeat but somehow it's OK for the government to do just that very thing.

agents of the government are legally sanctioned to lie to you with impunity but you lie to a government agent and your ass winds up in jail

there really is something not right about this shit, no?

What's not right about it --- is the dead silence. NOTHING being said about the fact that we are in that SS crisis that everybody warned about for 40 years. That there is NOTHING OF VALUE in the so-called Trust Fund. And EVEN OBAMA wouldn't defend his deficits because it would call attention to the LIE about Soc Sec sitting on MOUNTAINS of valuable paper in the Trust Fund..

INSTEAD -- the 2 parties have us fighting over the results of an election. Literally banging it every hour of every day. And they offered 2 damaged candidates. EITHER OF which were guaranteed to have a fucked up admin full of contention and resistance.

Nobody intends to do any work in DC. They HAVE what THEY WANT.. And now it's all about the power to operate it for THEIR advantage... To be the executors of that power. To dole out handouts to corporations, groups, foreign entities. To place insurgencies into the Deep Intel areas to harass their competiton.

When is America gonna STOP -- voting for these winners and take back the control of their govt? Is it AFTER the Civil War ---- or before???

SS taxes were raised under Reagan to deal with this very SS crisis, the problem is congress stole all our damn money. I laughed when they opposed Bush suggestion that we could invest part of our SS in the stock market. Congress claimed we might lose money on the investments, what vs them stealing every last dime of my money and spending it?

AND where was/is the supposed free press? This is precisely the type of issue they should be spanking congress for and its total silence.

 

[flacaltenn]

When private companies **** up -- they lose market share. Maybe even get sued. People get fired.
You **** up in govt -- they give your dept more money and promote you..
Govt can't track VIsa immigrants -- MasterCard could..

I asked simple questions. Which ONE of their duties -- or the stuff they've appropriated the power to do --- do they DO WELL?? With insight, dilligience, creativity and efficiency?

I'll bite . Let's go with post office . Which is now quasi government.

USPS is more NON -- than govt.. It's also an endangered species because of the "federal oversight" that limits their creativity and innovation to survive. I give 15 years MAX.. Before hardly ANYTHING gets to your "mailbox"..

When a corporation faces that kind of extinction event, they don't just keep making the buggy whips and wait for the doors to close.. Can't even really SELL the USPS to anyone -- can ya?

MAYBE --- Amazon would love to have it. MAYBE -- they'll pay more than it's actually worth..

USPS is more NON -- than govt.. It's also an endangered species because of the "federal oversight" that limits their creativity and innovation to survive. I give 15 years MAX.. Before hardly ANYTHING gets to your "mailbox"..
as a former worker i have to agree with this.....if Congress would let the people who run the PO actually run it,they would be way ahead of UPS and Fedx....they have to get permission to do anything to keep ahead or just keep up with everyone else,and sometimes it takes years.....and from what i have seen Amazon is doing great with the PO....

Bless you man... Shall we start a "Save the USPS" meme?? Someone needs to worry about their future prospects. DC doesn't give a ****... It'll keep slogging that pony when Amazon is dropping mail into their OWN box by Drone...

Amazon is gonna eat them -- one way or another... How come WE SEE THAT -- and yet no one in Cong. Hearing ever gets up and bangs on the table and gets folks attention????

the funny part is they ***** about how much money they lose but wont let them make a profit,even just a modest one...

Why of course -- if they made a profit, they might start thinking for themselves and innovating without Congress getting credit for delivering mail... And acting like a business instead of a historical legacy.....

 

[g5000]

I laughed when they opposed Bush suggestion that we could invest part of our SS in the stock market. Congress claimed we might lose money on the investments, what vs them stealing every last dime of my money and spending it?

Bush suggested privatizing SS in 2004.

A shitload of people lost their money in the stock market crash of 2008. Yay Bush!

Maybe you heard about it. It was in all the papers.

 

[BluesLegend]

Seriously. Is there ANYTHING that they do as well as you might want or expect? Even those things that ARE their PRIMARY Constitutional Duties.. Like the organization and the production of Congress. Or immigration and borders. Or assuring fair and legal elections? Even the maintenance and use of the Military -- which was NOT envisioned in the Constitution as a "standing army"..

And of the stuff that leadership has GRABBED the power to dabble in -- like picking winners and losers in the marketplace, or our new 9/11 domestic spying operation or even the operation of the IRS as an ENFORCEMENT arm of health care policy.

Why is it that so people tend to look to the Feds to micromanage every detail of life. Because WASH is full of the "best and brightest" humble, yet brilliant problem-solvers qualified to fix stuff efficiently and KEEP it fixed?

Ever see ONE Cong. Hearing that resolved anything at all?

Give me examples of WHY folks believe the Fed Govt deserves to keep EXPANDING it's control, it's budget, and it's EFFECT on our lives. The health of the country is suffering over POWER BATTLES for control of this Swampy Monster. It MUST BE just pricelessly IMPORTANT ---- RIGHT???

I love these idiot threads....

the federal government runs the military, social security, the US mail, environmental regulation (or did until the orange sociopath).... anti-trust laws, anti-discrimination laws, medicare, Medicaid.... workplace safety, arts and science funding....

and that's just off the top of my head.

prior to social security over 50% of our senior citizens lived in poverty.

you know, all of the things that trump loons get cranky about

Actually, Soc Sec is bankrupt because we allowed Congress to steal surpluses from working poor for 40 years and now the Treasury is floating NEW DEBT to cover the theft from the same victims. Most EVERYTHING you mentioned (except the US mail which they CLAIM isn't US anymore) has been poorly implemented, managed and for the most part UNDIRECTED by Congress for decades. When was the last big Anti-Trust case? The Feds have BY DESIGN forced MASSIVE consolidation in the Banking Industry and NOW they want to solve that.

Which is a LOT of what they do. Solving problems that THEY created. Or ignoring problems until they BECOME crises..

Congress told us they were only "borrowing" the SS surplus money, I always wondered how they planned to pay it back...increase taxes and collect the money a 2nd time? Say I borrow $10 from you, then tax you $10 then hand that back and claim we are even...now you know just how corrupt government has become.

the funny thing is that if I ever "borrowed" money from my employees' retirement funds and then paid it back with the contributions of other employees when the first employee retired my ass would wind up in jail in a heartbeat but somehow it's OK for the government to do just that very thing.

agents of the government are legally sanctioned to lie to you with impunity but you lie to a government agent and your ass winds up in jail

there really is something not right about this shit, no?

Its worse, congress was for a long time allowed to engage in insider trading, using upcoming legislation to place bets in the market. How fast do they throw citizens in prison for that?

It was only when this issue receive a bit too much press over some really blatant abuses that congress passed a law not allowing members to do this anymore. This is one of the ways these corrupt multi term congress sponges enrich themselves when they get to DC. And they feel entitled to this money convinced they are underpaid.

 

[g5000]

I laugh my ass off at the idea of someone stupid enough to vote for Trump investing their own money.

Oh my God they almost deserve it.

"I just signed us up for Trump University with the Platinum package, Martha!"

 

[flacaltenn]

Actually, Soc Sec is bankrupt because we allowed Congress to steal surpluses from working poor for 40 years and now the Treasury is floating NEW DEBT to cover the theft from the same victims. Most EVERYTHING you mentioned (except the US mail which they CLAIM isn't US anymore) has been poorly implemented, managed and for the most part UNDIRECTED by Congress for decades. When was the last big Anti-Trust case? The Feds have BY DESIGN forced MASSIVE consolidation in the Banking Industry and NOW they want to solve that.

Which is a LOT of what they do. Solving problems that THEY created. Or ignoring problems until they BECOME crises..

Congress told us they were only "borrowing" the SS surplus money, I always wondered how they planned to pay it back...increase taxes and collect the money a 2nd time? Say I borrow $10 from you, then tax you $10 then hand that back and claim we are even...now you know just how corrupt government has become.

the funny thing is that if I ever "borrowed" money from my employees' retirement funds and then paid it back with the contributions of other employees when the first employee retired my ass would wind up in jail in a heartbeat but somehow it's OK for the government to do just that very thing.

agents of the government are legally sanctioned to lie to you with impunity but you lie to a government agent and your ass winds up in jail

there really is something not right about this shit, no?

What's not right about it --- is the dead silence. NOTHING being said about the fact that we are in that SS crisis that everybody warned about for 40 years. That there is NOTHING OF VALUE in the so-called Trust Fund. And EVEN OBAMA wouldn't defend his deficits because it would call attention to the LIE about Soc Sec sitting on MOUNTAINS of valuable paper in the Trust Fund..

INSTEAD -- the 2 parties have us fighting over the results of an election. Literally banging it every hour of every day. And they offered 2 damaged candidates. EITHER OF which were guaranteed to have a fucked up admin full of contention and resistance.

Nobody intends to do any work in DC. They HAVE what THEY WANT.. And now it's all about the power to operate it for THEIR advantage... To be the executors of that power. To dole out handouts to corporations, groups, foreign entities. To place insurgencies into the Deep Intel areas to harass their competiton.

When is America gonna STOP -- voting for these winners and take back the control of their govt? Is it AFTER the Civil War ---- or before???

SS taxes were raised under Reagan to deal with this very SS crisis, the problem is congress stole all our damn money. I laughed when they opposed Bush suggestion that we could invest part of our SS in the stock market. Congress claimed we might lose money on the investments, what vs them stealing every last dime of my money and spending it?

AND where was/is the supposed free press? This is precisely the type of issue they should be spanking congress for and its total silence.

Why if folks actually KNEW then that the SS Trust Fund was robbed clean empty -- Bush MIGHT HAVE CONVINCED people to use the ample surplus (at that time) to defray some REAL future costs. Couldn't have Bush "save the future" for Soc Sec --- can we now???

 

[IsaacNewton]

'government' is not a foreign entity. It is made up of individual humans, and most of them take pride in doing their job well as do most of you (one will assume). As with all things human it is the few assholes, lazies, nepotism fanatics (they hire their sons, daughters, friends!), power hungry losers, or some other of the human failings that screws something up.

Go sit down and figure out how to put a man in space. All of it. Digging the ore out of the ground, smelting it, forging it into usable parts that meet specs and will withstand the strains of the violent launch from Earth yet be as light as possible, will resist the unfiltered rays of the sun and the -450 degrees F of space, strong enough to act as a spacecraft and lunar lander but light enough to accommodate a tiny amount of fuel. Land men on the moon, provide oxygen and water for their stay, and another launch vehicle to leave the moon and return to Earth.

If I recall there were numerous problems with the space program where people died and we had to start over and try again. All human systems are the same, there are no exceptions.

Now just multiply this by ten thousand re medical and scientific research, certification of qualified doctors, meat inspectors, building inspectors, engineering miinimums, etc.


Private companies screw up continuously and it costs people their lives. They don't do anything better than the government because both are simply made up of human beings, most of whom are doing their best.

 

[dcbl]

Seriously. Is there ANYTHING that they do as well as you might want or expect?

yes

more often than not the postal service is well run

it's a damned bargain to send a parcel from Miami, FL to San Fransisco, CA for less than 50 cents

outside of that, they know how to pave a road.

they also know how to create "shovel ready" jobs as a perk

example - I moved from Atlanta to Birmingham in December of 2002. They were paving the 60 or 70 mile stretch on I 20 from the Bama line to Bham

they are STILL paving stretches of that road - road work is a jobs program in Alabama

But I will give the Feds the post office...