Is there anything the federal government does well?

The Coast Guard works pretty well.

 

I think all of our military services do an excellent job, but they spend a lot more money than they need to IMHO. Which is because the politicians get involved with keeping bases open that should be closed, or supporting weapon systems or support systems that the military doesn't want or need.

 

What are you typing about?

She held up NASA as a government success story, and I corrected her.

Obama gave NASA the task of improving muslim relations, and obviously, theyre failing miserably.

 

Nice opinion pieces. Want to show me where we have defaulted on our obligations? Not pay our obligations?

 

Federal Reservie is not "owned" by anyone. There are no shares that are traded, privately or publicly.


http://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/about_14986.htm

 

They're pretty good at killing people with expensive weaponry and feeding us a bunch of BS about why they're doing it. They're also excellent at spying on folks, both at home and abroad.

So they got that going for them, which is nice.

 

I can't think of anything the government does that has a counterpart in the private sector. Until recently, there wasn't even overlap in healthcare. And private sector healthcare was an abysmal failure. I repeat, an ABYSMAL failure. Which is why to government stepped in, eh.

 

Both health care and health insurance are still provided by private or quasi-private organizations.... derp! Sounds like someone championing ACA and doesn't even really understand what it is or what it does. Shocker!

 

If it were the Bank of any country, especially the US, it would have US in it's name ....US Forestry, US Dept of the Interior, US Congress, US Dept of Defense, US Postal Service.... look at your dollar bills, they are claimed by the Fed Res. they do not say US Treasury. They are merely the bank the government does business with, as corrupt as that bank can be..........and it is controlled by twelve of the wealthiest families in the world. However, the jingle in your purse/pocket ARE minted by the US government. The dollar bills are script, printed and distributed by the Fed Res

- - - Updated - - -

we have a 17 trillion dollar debt. What more do you need? We sure haven't paid that off. As a matter of fact, we keep adding to it. Don't you wish you could do business that way?

 

Did I not mention "overlap"? Would not "overlap" have something to do with your quasi-private organizations? Did I say I champion the ACA? I want the private sector the hell outta healthcare entirely. Let me reiterate, private sector health insurance has PROVEN itself an ABYSMAL failure.

 

Are you serious?

- - - Updated - - -

It was if you consider the finest health care in the world an "abysmal failure". The term abysmal failure will be clearly demonstrated from now on.

 

Being snarky doesn't stop the fact the government was who got us to the moon, not some corporation.

 

Contempt for government and the desire to limit or eliminate government are NOT conservative ideas, they are anarchist ideas. Conservatives have always stood for a strong, activist government, particularly when it comes to national defense and protecting national economic interests. Since the so-called libertarians led by the Paul family have infiltrated the conservative movement and begun grappling for control of the Republican Party, the anarchism which is at the root of American so-called libertarianism has been thoughtlessly adopted by many right wingers in the mistaken belief that conservatism and anarchism must be the same thing as followers of both ideologies hate President Obama. Wrong

 

No? They were quasi-private before and their quasi-private now. Nothing changed.

That'd be a catastrophe. I think I'll keep getting my meds from phizer, if you want drugs developed by the Federal government that's a risk I hope you partake in alone.

So catastrophic that current legislation funnels every single citizen into it...

 

The ACA is private sector insurance..............or have you been hoodwinked?

And no it hasn't. Insurance was just fine..........for the MASS MAJORITY

- - - Updated - - -

And we got what exactly? A few rocks?

Trillions of dollars for rocks..............

 

Not this government, This government thinks NASA's job is to improve muslim relations.

Im not being snarky, Im 100% serious. Yes, I know its freakn stupid, but then again, I never voted for this clown

 

I don't think limiting the size and scope of the gov't is an anarchist idea, and I don't hear many who are pushing for the complete elimination of gov't. Which is anarchist, but we're talking about an extreme element here rather than everybody to the right of center. Just as the left has it's communist/socialist people on the far left, so too does the right have it's anarchists on the far right.

 

Moving the goal posts doesn't change facts either.

 

you obviously haven't been paying very close attention to the world around you. the welfare state itself is nothing more than a pale imitation of the thousands of private sector charities that have been in existence since our society began. the government directly employs workers for every aspect of the daily operation of government facilities, mirroring the jobs of the millions employed by the private sector. in every case, from teachers to janitors, they have proven to be far less efficient and cost-effective than their private sector counterparts. the reason is quite simple - the negotiations for their wages and benefits are conducted by those with no real interest in saving the taxpayers a single dime. bureaucrats, whose own salaries are tied to the same funding as those they are negotiating with, have no need to minimize the impact of those negotiations and are more than willing to give away the farm in exchange for the protection these sweetheart deals provide. they are similarly uninterested in getting rid of lazy or ineffective workers. after all, the unearthing of one bit of corruption leads to more and more, until their own failings are eventually uncovered and they themselves find their jobs on the block.

as for your stab at private sector health care, we all know that's a load of crap. the care itself is almost always conducted by the private sector anyway. those few cases where government has a direct hand in the administration of actual care have shown us just how horrible a job they can do. the va, a system that has been plagued with problems for as long as i can remember, is a perfect example of this sort of incompetence. health insurance, the real target of your foolish little barb, has likewise been a breeding ground of corruption and ineptitude. governmental attempts to provide health insurance for the aged, the poor and the disabled have long been noted for their tendency to shortchange both care providers and recipients, creating a system where overcharging for services is par for the course. the bureaucrats set to oversee these programs are far more interested with the mountains of red tape that are their bread and butter than with the effective operation of the system. those with health insurance in the private sector are, on the other hand, far more satisfied with their choices, as are their care providers. despite the over-hyped anecdotal evidence to the contrary, the vast majority of customers were perfectly happy with the system that was in place before government stepped in to complicate matters with their micro-managing.

the reality is that government is a microcosm of the real world. the biggest difference is that government monopolizes each task it sets itself to. with no competition and nearly unlimited coffers from which to fund its boondoggles, there is no reason for the state to even attempt the sort of streamlining that is the hallmark of a well run private sector business. the final arbiter in all matters is the same as those who initiate each process, so oversight is negligible and a runaway bureaucracy is always the final outcome.

 

Well, I agree with you that there is a spectrum of anarchist (= no government) ideas on the right. My point was (and is) that traditional conservatives both here and abroad are not small government types. In fact, they are large government types -- especially as regards military support for international corporations -- with enthusiasm for government enforcement of social values they deem important for a strong nation.

It is liberals who have always spoken for limiting government and liberals that advocate for individual freedom of social activity. In America, we have always had a liberal philosophy (at least until 1968 and Goldwater's run for president), the difference between Republicans and Democrats being one of pace and degree in the implementation of what has always been, essentially, a liberal program.

Confusion between conservatism and libertarian anarchism has been fostered by right wing radio in furtherance of Big Business' sponsorship of corporate libertarianism -- the idea that corporations have civil rights and should be allowed to do as they please.

Those whose political education comes from Fox News and talk radio are oblivious to these important philosophical differences. For them it is enough to share how much they hate Obummer and how mad they are at a bureaucracy which is giving away their own hard-earned money to shiftless, colored layabouts. It would be funny if it were not so harmful to America.