moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to bender
Re: Obama confirms he will create post of US chief technology..
said by bender  :im so lost as to how this is bad. whats the difference between the private and public sector? besides the fact that the government has to answer to the people and business answers only to the stock holders. The private sector produces products and services. The public service does not produce any products and the services are, by and large, inefficient. |
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satellite68
join:2007-04-11
Louisville, KY
| said by moonpuppy :said by bender :im so lost as to how this is bad. whats the difference between the private and public sector? besides the fact that the government has to answer to the people and business answers only to the stock holders. The private sector produces products and services. The public service does not produce any products and the services are, by and large, inefficient. So, you are, independently, at your expense:
-picking up your own garbage and disposing of it properly
-plowing/salting your own streets - all of them that you use on a regular basis
-assessing your property for market value
-policing your city for crime
-ensuring your neighbors don't open a chicken coop, meth lab, community open toilet, prostitution ring, heavy metal concert venue, etc. next to your property
-etc.
Having worked for a municipal government for years, I can say with authority the private citizen, whom we serve, is either very grateful for the services their taxes provide, or as illustrated above, ridiculously living in some kind of bizarro world of make believe that just doesn't understand what it takes to keep civilized society civilized. I'd love to see individuals like moonpuppy start collecting their own trash, policing their streets, etc. - and paying for it out of their own pockets. He'd soon realize what a pittance we pay in taxes in this country (compared to say, Sweden or Canada)
In essence, they do pay with their taxes - however, the strength and power of government is that they can do all of those things at a deeply discounted rate, as opposed to an individual trying to do it alone.
And to echo majormarco, those who usually gripe the loudest about "big government" are usually the ones who turn a blind eye to the protections he listed above, not to mention the fact that they voted the Bush admin in twice, who are overseeing the biggest government spending spree we've ever seen. Want smaller government? Maybe you should have thought twice before voting the "fiscal conservatives" in for two bloody terms.
If Obama is 10% better than Bush as a president, he'll go down in history as being a savior. |
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bender
Bite my shiny metal ass
Premium
join:2005-03-19
Evanston, IL
clubs: | i lived off of taxes dollars for 8 years (i served in the military). i guess maybe having family or friends that live on tax dollars is what it takes to appreciate taxes? |
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moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to satellite68
said by satellite68 :So, you are, independently, at your expense: -picking up your own garbage and disposing of it properly -plowing/salting your own streets - all of them that you use on a regular basis -assessing your property for market value -policing your city for crime -ensuring your neighbors don't open a chicken coop, meth lab, community open toilet, prostitution ring, heavy metal concert venue, etc. next to your property -etc. My taxes pay a PRIVATE company to pick up the garbage and dispose of it. My taxes pay for the plowing of roads, by a PRIVATE company. Seems the private sector is doing the job of government. 
Police and taxation services are government entities because of the nature of their work. Again, where are the products?
said by satellite68 :Having worked for a municipal government for years, I can say with authority the private citizen, whom we serve, is either very grateful for the services their taxes provide, or as illustrated above, ridiculously living in some kind of bizarro world of make believe that just doesn't understand what it takes to keep civilized society civilized. I'd love to see individuals like moonpuppy start collecting their own trash, policing their streets, etc. - and paying for it out of their own pockets. He'd soon realize what a pittance we pay in taxes in this country (compared to say, Sweden or Canada) Like when people have to wait hours for anything to get done when you show up at your local DMV. Or when you have a question and you call and get put on hold for hours and forgotten.
said by satellite68 :In essence, they do pay with their taxes - however, the strength and power of government is that they can do all of those things at a deeply discounted rate, as opposed to an individual trying to do it alone. Doesn't mean they do it any better.
said by satellite68 :And to echo majormarco, those who usually gripe the loudest about "big government" are usually the ones who turn a blind eye to the protections he listed above, not to mention the fact that they voted the Bush admin in twice, who are overseeing the biggest government spending spree we've ever seen. Want smaller government? Maybe you should have thought twice before voting the "fiscal conservatives" in for two bloody terms. And what happens when governments keep raising taxes just to give their workers more money and the service is just not there? I called the police when I saw a couple of kids breaking into parked cars on my street. Nothing else was happening and it still took them an hour to respond and this was a major city. And the reason I knew nothing was going on was because I was listening to their radio traffic.
Sorry, but after years of dealing with Baltimore City and Anne Arundel County governments, I can tell you that their idea of helping people is to do the least amount of work possible.
said by satellite68 :If Obama is 10% better than Bush as a president, he'll go down in history as being a savior. Drink the Kool-Aid, already Obama has stepped back from a lot of promises. He is going to be the next Jimmy Carter. |
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NetAdmin
CCNA
join:2008-05-22
| reply to moonpuppy
said by moonpuppy :inefficient That's one that describes a lot of companies in the private sector too.
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Drilling for more oil is akin to giving a methhead the keys to the meth lab. |
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moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
·Verizon Online DSL
| said by NetAdmin :said by moonpuppy :inefficient That's one that describes a lot of companies in the private sector too. And most of those are allowed to fail. If the government department fails, they get more money. |
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NetAdmin
CCNA
join:2008-05-22
| said by moonpuppy :And most of those are allowed to fail. If the government department fails, they get more money. You definitely are right about the government agency, but remember the bailout. The idea that the private sector is more efficient than government is true, but it isn't all that much more efficient.
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Drilling for more oil is akin to giving a methhead the keys to the meth lab. |
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Bobcat
Premium
join:2001-02-04
Bedminster, NJ
·Verizon Online DSL
1 edit | reply to moonpuppy
Your stereotypes are not always true.
The NJ DMV was a corrupt disaster when it was run by private companies. Poor service, money disappearing, clerks soliciting bribes for fake licenses, etc. The government took it over and things improved immensely. |
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satellite68
join:2007-04-11
Louisville, KY
| reply to moonpuppy
quote:
My taxes pay a PRIVATE company
Missed. My. Point. Are you independently contracting them for services? No, you're not-your local gov't is, and gets a deep discount. If you can't grasp that premise, the rest of your statement is just pointless.
So - YOU had a bad experience. Ho hum. There's 300 million people in the U.S., and you had a bad time, so therefore, no one else could be even marginally satisfied with their services. Yeah, good times. |
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