Opinion Talk

By lovelyliz

July 2, 2008 7:30 AM | Link to this

Instead of admitting what the goovernment does right and corporate business does not, some are every bit as myopic and iingorant as those they attack.

By Copyleft

July 2, 2008 8:15 AM | Link to this

Once the Republicans are out of power, they’ll go back to bashing government as inherently evil. It’s what they know, and it’s where they’re most comfortable.

A land far removed from reality.

By gttim

July 2, 2008 9:07 AM | Link to this

Fixed this for you:

“[H]e probably took a nice hot shower, knowing that the water would flow abundantly (clean because of federal lawsuits filed by citizens and liberal special interest groups like Riverkeeper and Sierra), like the gas that heated the water. Then, maybe he had breakfast and coffee, confident that there was no pesticide residue or glass shards in the cereal (because of federal lawsuits filed by citizens and liberal special interest groups), no hormones in the milk (because of federal lawsuits filed by citizens and liberal special interest groups), and no heavy metals in the coffee water (because of federal lawsuits filed by citizens and liberal special interest groups). He got into his car, which did not explode when he turned it on (because of federal lawsuits filed by citizens and liberal special interest groups, and Ralph Nadar before he sold out), and drove on sturdy roads and bridges to work (which are frequently collapsing because the government can’t afford to repair them with all the tax cuts given away to the wealthy and corporations), safe from shadowy militias out to kidnap him (hopefully, although with the Bush administration shredding the constitution, this could happen soon).

“His car, cereal, coffee, faucets, alarm clock, tires, suit and tie — all were provided by the enthusiasm, talent and ingenuity of private enterprise and the free market, but made safe by liberals and liberal groups working to make sure that safety comes before profit. But his day might have started a lot worse were it not for liberal special interest groups keeping his water, food, car, neighborhood and roads safe.

“Perhaps Greenhut should try living in a country where government suppresses any form of political activism. Zimbabwe comes to mind.”

By Purdue is a chicken

July 2, 2008 12:24 PM | Link to this

What else would you expect from a government employee.

what an arse hole. the court system is the only thing that keeps corporations in check not governments.

governments actually cause most of the problems and provide very little solutions.

they are always behind and react instead of leading. competition and the free market system ensures that companies that are inept wil disappear.

By Reality Check

July 2, 2008 1:43 PM | Link to this

There are a couple points that need to be made regarding a couple recent posts.

My favorite is the statement that only the court system does anything to keep corporations in check. The court system is part of the government and each judge, attorney, clerk and bailiff is usually paid a salary by the county, state or federal government.

Courts do not police or enforce their decisions. It is up to the government agencies to take these steps. Bureaucrats do the actual work of implementing the regulations and court decisions. Any decision made by a court or a law enacted by congress and the president, required a government employee to step into the process to assure implementation.

It always amazes me how everyone always blames the government but every time there is a problem or issue; these same people want to know why there isn’t a law, government agency or elected official stepping into the fray.

There are so many examples of placing blame starting with my kids can’t read because the teacher is inept rather than my kids don’t read because all they do is play video games and have no parental involvement.

How about: our kids are getting pregnant because there is sex education rather than my kid got pregnant because I as a parent did not supervise their activities or instill the right moral messages. Those 17 kids that got pregnant in Massachusetts were probably to blame on some government agency.

My favorite is my kids got into problems online and it is the government’s fault rather than why am I not aware of what my kid is doing online, who are the texting and why are they sitting in a dark room when they should be outside exercising (Ohh, how could I forget, it is the governments fault that your kids are eating junk, right?)

Are there bad government employees, the answer is YES. Are there bad private sector employees, the answer is YES (just try calling a customer service number for a credit card, or try to reach someone at the cable company) Both sectors need to identify the bad staff members and help them choose different career paths. Of course when that happens, the person will show up at the Department of Labor looking for help from a government worker.

By Citizen of the World

July 2, 2008 2:34 PM | Link to this

This reminds me of a conversation I had with someone once who said, “You act like government and business are the enemy!” I said, “Duh, they’ve always been the enemy, and if we don’t watch those (you know whats), they’ll join forces and we’ll all be serfs and slaves again!”

I doesn’t make sense to say, government is good, business is bad. Or business is good, government is bad. They are both bad when allowed too much power, and that’s what’s happening now — 1) because we’re not holding our government accountable (two recent examples, reelecting GWB and Sonny Perdue, despite clear evidence of mis- and malfeasance) and 2) and we’re not holding our government to their responsibility to hold business accountable. We’re buying into the myth of a “free market economy,” although with bail outs and tax breaks, there’s no such thing. But if you want to talk about a free market economy, how about this — businesses and corporations are required to take precautions against harming us and also must clean up after themselves as they go, then pass that expense along to the consumer. Consequently, their goods and services come at a price we truly agree to pay, rather than at a cost we can’t predict — illness and injury and irreparable damage to our environment. So, contrary to popular opinion that regulations interfere with a free-market economy, perhaps they help ensure it.

One element to this equation that hasn’t come up is the press. Free and functioning, the press is what has enabled our democracy to work as long as it has, even as imperfectly as it has. Often vilified by conservatives as the “liberal media,” the press, when it does its job, is what really keeps the people informed and helps to keep government and business from becoming absolute powers that are absolutely corrupt.

By dbm

July 2, 2008 7:11 PM | Link to this

If government had always provided people with aspirin, anyone who wanted to change this would be accused of wanting to deny relief to headache sufferers.

By zeke

July 2, 2008 11:13 PM | Link to this

What blithering oblivious idiots!

By Eric

July 3, 2008 12:05 AM | Link to this

FEAR TECHNOLOGY I’m in general agreement with both sides of this issue - 1) that the government’s regulatory function is out of control, while 2) increasing corporate control over our lives is also unacceptable in a democracy. However, has anyone noticed that the means used by these institutions to control citizens is via technology, which most of us passively accept as the norm? Even when filling up the gas tank, I now am required to enter my zip code in the machine. Linking this information to my credit card purchase does not make me “safer.” If I “disagree,” I am unable to purchase gas. How ridiculous and frightening as to the password world we have become!

By rd

July 3, 2008 8:00 AM | Link to this

The Constitution… of the U.S. and of each state… lays out very clearly the role of government. It was not to provide a security net for people (SS). It was not to provide healthcare to the poor (medicare/medicaid). It was not to provide healthcare to EVERYONE (Barak Obama). Government has stepped so far over its original purpose that our forefathers would no longer recognize it…. and we are paying for it to the tune of being in debt over $30,000 for every man, woman, and child in the U.S. We cannot afford any more wars, we cannot afford any new big government programs, and we cannot afford the big government programs that we have in the current form.
I, too, like water, electricity, and DSL. I understand that it is only through government regulation of commerce, a legitimate purpose of government, that it happens. But I also understand that government wastes BILLIONS of dollars on things that are non-essential and that are not legitimate purposes of government. We have to PAY for those things, and our government is in debt up to its eyeballs. That is why the dollar has fallen to lows not seen in modern times, and it will continue to fall until the government by the people and for the people limits it’s spending and control to only doing the things absolutely necessary for the people.

By Copyleft

July 3, 2008 8:08 AM | Link to this

RD is right. We ARE wasting billions of dollars on stuff the government doesn’t need to be doing… like policing the world.

Time to recall the troops and focus on our OWN problems here at home. Glad to have you on board, RD!

By SamJam

July 3, 2008 9:22 AM | Link to this

Get Ron Paul’s book - Revolution - A Manifesto.

The federal government is out of control. One can grab state and local government by the shirt collars at least a little bit. Not the Fed.

Why does Sen. Charles Grassley want to know what I buy?

Remember the Gulf Of Tonkin. 58,000 dead for what?

By SL3

July 3, 2008 9:55 AM | Link to this

Of course McDowell will have this viewpoint. His job depends on it and too many other unnecessary jobs in our bloated gov’t. Rd is right. The majority of the gov’t spending goes to entitlement programs. And the Dems want to enlarge that even more? The idiots who think taxing the “rich” and corporations will solve the budget problem. You probably own a little bit of some of them in your IRA or 401k. Corporations create jobs and if you tax them more they will charge more for their products or services which you pay for if they can stay in business in the global market when other countries tax or subsidize their companies less. Your IRA will not grow as they make less money for their shareholders which includes you. If it doesn’t than you are an idiot for not saving a little. If you are a gov’t worker you have a gov’t pension that is guaranteed by the rest of us taxpayers who don’t have a guaranteed one. We have social security and we know how well that’s doing. Think how much you would have had in an IRA if you could have put that 14% (yea, 14 is right since your employer has to match the 7% you think is all you pay)of your income in there instead of the gov’t program and pass on the balance to your kids when you pass. In spite of the recent market decline it would be a shocking amount. Instead it is gov’t debt. It is not in a savings account. It has been spent by the drunken sailors in DC.

By Ben

July 3, 2008 3:12 PM | Link to this

Government is not inherently evil, and even hardcore libertarians, not anarchists mind you, admit to a need for some form of government. If only the government stuck to the guidelines provided in the Constitution. The Interstate Commerce Clause has been abused to such an extent that our Congress is a false Congress, masquerading as the legal one spelled out in the Constitution.