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DEL.ICIO.USTurn services over to private sector
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Despite a 12-year job-performance record that included “fights with co-workers, chronic tardiness, insubordination, repeated sleeping on the job and numerous mistakes routing emergency calls,” it wasn’t until a major 911-call blunder ended with a woman’s death that Gina Conteh got fired.
The quotes are from an account by AJC reporters D.L. Bennett and Marcus K. Garner of how the Fulton County civil service system works —- or doesn’t —- to serve the public interest. A mishandled call for medical assistance from Darlene Dukes of Johns Creek delayed help for almost an hour; she later died from a blood clot in her lung.
Getting rid of bad employees in Fulton is “impossible,” said Rob Simms, chief of staff to former Commission Chairman Mike Kenn. “Essentially, you can’t be fired.”
The state legislator who represents Johns Creek, House Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter, told the reporters that it’s “well-known that Fulton County is quick to hire, rarely disciplines and perpetuates an inefficient government.” He described Fulton as “a bloated jobs program.”
The inability to rid the public payroll of bad employees is a prime reason for moving virtually all nonjustice functions of state and local government into the private sector.
After a hundred years or more, we should have learned some lessons about the services government provides and the management systems they’ve created.
The primary one is that elected officials are notorious for thinking no further than the next election cycle. As such, they are incapable of acting in taxpayers’ best interests. The city of Atlanta, for example, sweetened pensions as a quick fix to placate disgruntled employees, putting the city in a financial bind for years to come.
The Atlanta school board has a pension system that covers 2,400 retirees and 1,000 current employees, mostly janitors, secretaries and other support staff, that is underfunded by $510 million. Teachers are, for the most part, in the state system. The board will spend $850 per student yearly to keep the system afloat —- meaning that the first $850 raised from property taxes for education goes to pay for yesterday’s short-sightedness.
Most of Georgia avoids troubles so dire not because they have smarter, more fiscally responsible, elected officials. It’s because Atlanta is older, has had more of a union presence and a greater cash flow, enabling its officials to be irresponsible more consequentially. It’s built up systems, like Fulton County’s, that make it virtually impossible to properly manage its personnel.
Before personnel problems get any worse, elected officials should be working overtime to come up with ways to turn functions over to the private sector. Then if a company doesn’t deliver, or is staffed with bad employees, elected officials can get rid of the company and give the contract to a new one. When workers are in the private sector, they’re not voting to elect their bosses, and they’re not lobbying for special favors. And, furthermore, politicians aren’t tempted to give in to them because they see the workers as a voting bloc. If they do, the costs will be pushed into the open, raising the possibility that another company will bid for the contract.
The other concern is unionization. Elected officials should never put themselves in the position of dealing with blocs of workers. More unionization is coming. A bill now before Congress called the Employee Fair Choice Act is a short cut to unionization. It would authorize a union in a private-sector company if a majority of workers merely sign an authorization card. No election would be necessary.
That’s on Big Labor’s wish list because the percentage of unionized workers in the private sector has dropped by more than half, to 7.5 percent, in 25 years.
Meanwhile, though, in the public sector, unionization is exploding and is now at 35.9 percent. That’s ominous. Georgia’s one of the five states with less than 5 percent of the work force unionized (4.4 percent). The time to deal with the problem is before it arises.
We see in Fulton and Atlanta, two mature governments, the consequence of short-term thinking and of adopting work rules that make it impossible to manage the work force properly.
Now’s the time to act. Privatize everything that’s not a function of justice. Everything.
Permalink | Comments (141) | Post your comment | Categories: Column
Comments
By hillbilly ragger
August 19, 2008 7:54 AM | Link to this
Shorter Jim: Them workers is gettin’ uppity. Nip it in the bud!
By funnyBone
August 19, 2008 7:56 AM | Link to this
The private sector always performs a job better. Need I explain??By Beau L. Chevik
August 19, 2008 7:56 AM | Link to this
Silly Wooten. Unions, not elections give power to the people. Union bosses are much more trustworthy than politicians. Just ask Jimmy Hoffa … if you can find him. Hey and if you do find him, tell him he still owes me that five bucks.
By Batchamamakoodles
August 19, 2008 8:05 AM | Link to this
Just a little piece of heaven to start your day.
Ah, vacation
By BFKaJ
August 19, 2008 8:08 AM | Link to this
Good morning all. I am philosophically aligned with Jim this morning. I think substantial elements of “justice” could also be privatized. Jails and prisons can be run efficiently by private companies. Every civil suit ought to go through private mediation and or arbitration rather than run through the jury system, both for the speed of adjudication and the inherent “arbitrariness” that arises with juries. The only element of justice that should remain with the government are police arrests and judicial deprivation of freedom. Perhaps amusingly, the one area of justice that has broadly transferred to private enterprise – probation supervision – is in an area I would abolish entirely, due to the misapplication of standards by the courts.
The core problem is that Americans have ceded to legislators half their individual incomes to spend without particular direction. Legislators feel obliged to spend, without regard to the value taxpayers receive. Competitive bidding could alleviate some of the waste, but only with liberal (meaning not micromanaged) specifications for the contracts.
By Bitter EX democrackkk
August 19, 2008 8:11 AM | Link to this
hey Beau…’Unions’ are OBSOLETE and help fund an array of CORRUPTION throughout America…Strive to be a NON Union person at every turn!
Union ‘leaders’ are eaten UP with CORRUPTION!!!
By Batchamamakoodles
August 19, 2008 8:20 AM | Link to this
On my previous link I reccommend clicking on the photo with the two young ladies in Greece. A feature of the brunette is one of the nicest I’ve seen lately … you’ll see what I mean.
Now, onto the topic. Yes. Privatize. Save money. Refund the savings to individuals who are taxed far too much already.
By Captain Freedom
August 19, 2008 8:20 AM | Link to this
THE Captain stops by to approve Jim’s excoriation of the socialists of the union movement. How we long for the days when the sharp blow of a Pinkerton bludgeon could resolve any labor dispute in favor of the Brave Men of Capital who risk their very lives to offer the masses jobs that pay near-sustenance wages.
THE Captain experiences a hearty thigh tingle just visualizing the union man’s brain matter leaking into an alley way puddle. Exxxxxxcellent.
By Ga Values
August 19, 2008 8:32 AM | Link to this
The problems of Atlanta Government are simply too big to be fixed. Several years ago the school system transfered part of their food service to a company owned by the Maynard Jackson family, result a millon dollar increase in cost & worse food. Any move to a privite service will go to the politically connected. Look at the Airport it is simply a cookie jar for the in group.
By glenn129
August 19, 2008 8:33 AM | Link to this
Incompetent governmnet employers managing our tax dollars and workers have put all of the Fulton Co. and Atlanta City Governments into a morass they have dug trying to get themselves elected again. The unions ran a lot of jobs from up nawth down here, but then they ran a lot of those jobs to overseas. The answer is to let all the illegals do the work. That is what the government is allowing now.
By Tuffy, The Airborne Soldier
August 19, 2008 8:48 AM | Link to this
Damn. I have to slightly agree with you Jim. (I need a drink) The public sector is a joke, just look at most of our locally elected officials. The sector is more representative of them, careless and out of touch.
Damn. Write something that can get me mad at you again, Jim. Were you at McCain’s fundraiser? Maybe applauded his pandering performance at Warren’s Saddleback Church?? Perhaps you don’t want to comment on how Mccain’s knowledge that a question concerning the Supreme Court was coming up when it had not been asked yet??? C’mon Jim, give us something we can sink our teeth into with you…or have you suddenly righted your moral and political compass and decided to vote for the qualified, capabale and enigmatic democratic presumptive nominee who stands to lead this country back to a position of power through diplomacy and representative work which the world will rally around as we resume of place as leaders of this world(a man who should win by a landslide, but probably won’t due to the fear of that man who does not look like the Presidents on dollar bills or from central casting, and that none of those “patriots” that will NOT vote for him, will not admit his race as being the primary reason).. That good old hateful Jim, where is he??
By Curious Observer
August 19, 2008 8:50 AM | Link to this
We have this fraud of privatization in the federal work force. It’s a great way for politicians to reward campaign contributors. Just ask Lockheed, Perot Systems, and other major players who profit considerably by furnishing labor to federal agencies. Better still, it allows politicians to claim that they have “reduced the federal work force,” when what they have really done is increase the work force with private contractors who do not count as federal employees. The only loser in this system is the taxpayer, who is paying more per employee than he would otherwise pay for a civil service job. At present, about 40% of the federal work force consists of private contractors whose primary allegiance is to private employers, not to the federal agencies in which they work. If you think that this figure is ridiculously high, then do some research. You will find that 40% of the employees now at CDC, supposedly protecting your health, are contractors, not federal employees.
Address the real problem: the existence of workplace rules that prevent supervisors from firing the incompetent. There is no reason that a government job should represent guaranteed lifetime employment. Suggesting that the Fulton County 911 mess is the fault of “unions” is the height of diverting attention from the inefficiency that now occurs. Politicians put the current work rules in place. They can just as readily change them.
By CJ
August 19, 2008 8:55 AM | Link to this
Great to see Captain Freedom again!
Quickly, Jim’s free market fundamentalist ideology causes him to, once again, miss the point.
The issue isn’t private sector vs. public sector (we all know about the billions, with a “B”, unaccounted for that went to private contractors in Iraq, and now, New Orleans). The issue is management. A simple illustration is how FEMA suffered during the first Bush administration, improved dramatically under Clinton and then suffered again under the second Bush administration (who had outsourced multiple FEMA functions to…wait for it…the private sector).
Ultimately, the problem is us. We have to manage our elected officials and hold them accountable when they don’t do their jobs properly. Citizenship requires a lot more than just showing up at the voting booth from time to time.
By TW
August 19, 2008 8:58 AM | Link to this
John McSame lost his ‘war hero’ sheen when he decided to pander to the wealthy. Real balls don’t do that.
By Get Real
August 19, 2008 9:01 AM | Link to this
What Wootie does not explain is that even if most government services were privatized, taxpayers wouldn’t save that any more money and there would be more corruption. The procurement process for contracts would be a hand grab, and its not like just anyone would get a government contract. It would be more ‘quid pro quo’ than there is now. And when those private companies mess up, its the government that will get sued. Nice idea in practice, but in the real world Bush has shown what privatizing government can do.
By Helen Crane
August 19, 2008 9:11 AM | Link to this
Excellent article jim! What about social services too? Let’s start with DFCS. Why can’t we hire out to religiously affiliated groups like the Salvation Army etc. They have a proven track record, operate lean, and have predictable and acceptable cultural and moral standards that have been tested over time. Research that please. How much money could we save?
By The Truth
August 19, 2008 9:11 AM | Link to this
I hate to disrupt the love fest but PRIVATIZATION DOES NOT WORK! Why you ask? Because when private companies take over functions of government, which are usually unprofitable (like 911 dispatching - How are you gonna make a profit on that? Charge people when the call? Yeah, that’ll fly.), they are provided with a flat rate of compensation by the government to perform that service. In order to maximize profit from this compensation package, the private company will cut as many corners as possible to save money. Cutting corners can be an annoyance for taxpayers, and it can also be deadly. We would have had a lot more dead people as a result of privatized dispatching.
Privatizing the public sector is a dangerous trend. It doesn’t save money and it inevitably leads to a decline in services, since private companies will always be on the lookout for ways to save money in the delivery of the services. And oversight by state officials can always be turned away by the right campaign donations.
In a larger philosphical sense, privatizing (i.e. abolishing) all public services to for-profit entities threatens our very sense of being one nation, our sense of being in this endeavor together. When government is relegated to the police and defense services only, and everyone is pitted against each other in a darwinian struggle for profits and food, at some point people may start asking: “Why are we even a country anymore? Why not fully revert to anarchic rule of the jungle?” In other words, what interest would it be for me and you to even belong to the same country if there is no government in common between us?
By Peter
August 19, 2008 9:13 AM | Link to this
Gosh………..Jim could not have described the Bush Administration with more clarity then he did today………..
“elected officials are notorious for thinking no further than the next election cycle. As such, they are incapable of acting in taxpayers’ best interests.”
Thank you for the profound moment Jim………
This is exactly what has plagued America for the last 8 years !
By Dennis
August 19, 2008 9:20 AM | Link to this
I wonder if Mr. Wooten considers Congress and the White House as the “private sector”?
He calls for getting rid of incompetent people in his column today, but I can’t recall a single time in nearly eight years that he was willing to say that about GWB, Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Gonzales, and a hosts of others who have mislead this nation; into war, into bankruptcy, into debt that will be owed by his own grandchildren.
No Sir. His is a typical right wing rant.
Privitize everything and everything will be run smoothly by “executive” types like those named above.
And he’s not going to tell you/us that unions came about because of the abuse of blue collar workers by owners and management.
You don’t have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.
By BFKaJ
August 19, 2008 9:26 AM | Link to this
Dear Truth @ 9:11, “what interest would it be for me and you to even belong to the same country if there is no government in common between us?” You equate the “sense of country” with the size of the bureaucracy? That’s a bit over the top, don’t you think? Nobody will ever question whether you love Big Brother.
By Reaity Check
August 19, 2008 9:27 AM | Link to this
C/O at 8:50 has it right. Moving to the private sector does nothing for the pubic. I work for a large private company, and I can assure you that we provide a better level of service to those that have the ability to pay more. In my industry, clients that don’t readily contribute to our bottom line are dismissed, even though we are critical to their existance. Private companies are all about the money not the people and sometimes the people are more important.
By Peter
August 19, 2008 9:27 AM | Link to this
Jim………. what about the mess we have with Freddie Mac and Fannie May……?
US taxpayers will have to pay how many Millions of dollars to bail them out, as they did other banking, and lending institutions.
Well without a doubt Jim is not going to mention the Catastrophic Mess the BUSH Administration is leaving for the next administration……..
Bush administration official: 2008 will set record
WASHINGTON - A senior Bush administration official says the budget deficit for this year will set a record in dollar terms, approaching $490 billion.
The official said Monday the deficit was being driven to record levels by the sagging economy and the stimulus payments being made to 130 million households in an effort to keep the country from falling into a deep recession. A deficit approaching $490 billion would easily surpass the current record deficit of $413 billion set in 2004.
Yes FOLKS vote Republican……… they can Bankrupt the country, and Bilk the Treasury as they wish……….and they will start WW III with McLost if you let them !
Also Remember what Jim states……….
“elected officials are notorious for thinking no further than the next election cycle. As such, they are incapable of acting in taxpayers’ best interests.”
Yes………. today we have that example with the Bush Administration.
By Politics Aside
August 19, 2008 9:30 AM | Link to this
Gina Conteh sounds like she’d make a great pizza delivery guy. (I’ve fallin and I cant get up. Do you want pepperoni on that ma’am?) No, you dont understand, I’m an old woman whose very frail, and I’ve injured myself falling, and I could have possible internal bleeding, and I cant get up. Help me. Please.” (Do you have a coupon, ma’am?)
The Chinese sure can goose-step entertainingly. Did you get a load of the opening ceremonies? Those boots are made for woking. (sorry).
Why is foreign policy so crucial today? So what if we plant our flag on the Temple Mount or on the steppes of Russia? I want to direct everyone’s attention to a little guy called World War One!
Those misguided people waded into the trenches with their eyes wide open, simply because of obsolete notions of having or needing an ally. Afghanistan doesn’t have allies, yet, they held their own against Russia, and the US, and anyone who’s dumb enough to invade. Why?
Because the terrain dictates country borders Those borders are there because there’s either a mountain or a lake or a river or some impenetrable, unassailable natural fortress. One Taliban child with a slingshot can hold off an entire platoon of combat marines in some of the mountain passes on McTerrain’s Pakistani-Iraq border. McLame thinks Tomtom is a war drum, apparently.
It’s stopped being funny watching McFeign step in it while he boasts what he’d do if only he were the king of the forest. But McMane, what if you meet a bear? “Dont bother me with the what, who, why or where.” But, what if you meet a congressional insurgency? “Is this or isn’t this a plutocracy?” But, what if you meet up with a constitution? “I’d commit it to an institution!”
Yes, McReich would already have us in a war with Russia over click-heeled notions of there being no place like homeland security. I say let Russia bear the cost of their occupation. It will set their progress back as far as Iraq has set our progress back. When we look at Russia we look in a mirror, a carnival mirror that distorts everything so it looks like scrambled porn, (did you get a load of the Russian gymnasts? I surrender.)
This is why we need change. Right here is the best example in real life, with no spin, about why we need a fresh set of eyes to dismantle the entirety of the Cheney Doctrine of lobbied commercial military tyranny. We need to throw all the pirates out, (and Bush’s little dog too).
McCain 08: Steppin’ in the Russian Bearcrap
Putin 08: Liftin’ his leg and saying it’s rain to McCain.
If you’re surprised Russia found the money to invade anybody…..oil windfall. We need a Windfall Cossacks tax. (sorry).
By Copyleft
August 19, 2008 9:37 AM | Link to this
I notice that Jim Wooten’s headline today is pretty generic; he could apply it to any of hundreds of far-right lunatic articles he’s penned.
“Privatize everything; government is the enemy; corporations are our rightful masters, and none shall question their divinity.” We’ve been hearing it since Reagan’s day.
And it’s always been anti-American nonsense.
By The Truth
August 19, 2008 9:46 AM | Link to this
DEAR BFKaJ @ 9:26, Since when is 911 dispatching big brother? Are all non justice government employees big brother too?
I do not exactly equate bureacracy with country. On the other hand, there is no country without some sort of bureaucracy. Or shall we all pledge allegiance to ExxonMobil, Halliburton, Blackwater, ADM, Monsanto, etc.?
Could you begin to imagine a country in which there was only a police department and a military? If the only thing tying you and me together under the stars and stripes is a soldier and a policeman, then why should I be part of it at all? That doesn’t sound like a country I want to be part of.
Most people will agree when forced on this issue. People are beginning to learn, the hard way, that it is foolish to elect people to run the government who do not believe in government. Witness the last seven years.
Moreover, the services of most government agencies cannot be fulfilled by the private sector, because they are not profitable. That’s why government does them. Privatization is not really allowing a private company to make a profit ON ITS OWN by providing a service. The government, the taxpayers, are still paying for that service. Then the company inevitably finds every way possible to cheapen the service in order to maximize profit.
Privatization is not truly private, since taxpayers are still footing the bill, and not getting their money’s worth.
Have a good day, comrade.
By Peter
August 19, 2008 9:47 AM | Link to this
Well folks if you think American’s will get any type of break at the pumps with McLost………… that is a crazy IDEA!
If cash equals friendship, then John McCain and the oil industry are best friends.
The Arizona Republican has taken $1.4 million from oil industry employees in the 2007-2008 election cycle, more than any other politician, according to CRP.
That’s over three times as much as Barack Obama, who ranks just below Hillary Clinton as the highest Democrat recipient.
Yes John McLost will be in BED with the OIL Companies as much as BUSH has been………
With McLost, America will get 4 more years of being ripped off…………….
By lovelyliz
August 19, 2008 9:48 AM | Link to this
Privitizing doesn’t change the amount of $$ the taxpayer forks over, it just changes who gets it. On paper the government might appear smaller, but in reality it’s only a matter of symantics.
By professional skeptic
August 19, 2008 9:52 AM | Link to this
I agree with The Truth above. Businesses in the private sector are beholden to the short-term interests of their investors, not the long term interests of their customers.
Furthermore, companies in the private sector are constantly subject to changes in ownership. Do we really want to turn over key government services to companies that could be bought and controlled by foreign investors who don’t necessarily have our best interests at heart?
Imagine our state government slapping toll roads all over Metro Atlanta, with control over the management of these taxpayer assets given away to the private sector. Next, imagine a Middle Eastern nation’s sovereign wealth fund acquiring a controlling interest in the management company operating our toll roads.
Are we prepared to allow a scenario like this to unfold?
By Greg
August 19, 2008 9:59 AM | Link to this
Jim, I used to think that education should remain, at least partially, in the hands of government. Public schools were America’s great gift to it’s people. But then I had an epiphany after witnessing the “poor performanc, excuse-making, spend-more-money” cycle that thrives in these public schools. At least in secondary schools you have some sense of competitiveness in entrance requirements.
My conclusion was you get the incompetence you tolerate. GM, Ford and Chrysler all remain mired in red ink while Toyota plants hum merrily along, paying comparable union wages and bene’s for a superior (as judged by the public) product. When the unions leave, the imagination, quality and economic vitality will return to the American carmakers.
ON ANOTHER TOPIC FROM YESTERDAY,
I read with some amusement the essay by my friend BS Aplenty. Mr. Aplenty nobly defended John McCain’s military service as well as the distinguished military service of his family. Hard to dispute the nature of his upbringing.
BS Aplenty went on to say that Barrack Obama had a very different upbringing in the black liberation theology taught at the Trinity United CHURCH OF CHRIST. I wanted to provide your readers a link to this church so that you can view the focus of this supposedly Christian church.
Here you go to the TUCC website
I must say between Cone’s books Black Theology and Black Power, A Black Theology of Liberation and Wright’s “Talking Points”, I couldn’t support a racist like Obama. Rev. Wright’s very public comments and these taliking points suggest this is the tip of a very ugly iceberg.
If you think I’m overreaching, just substitute the word “White” wherever you see the word “Black” in these talking points. You’d think you were at a Klan church. Makes you cringe at the overtly racist nature of the church where Barrack Obama attended.
I think I’ll support McCain.
By zeke
August 19, 2008 9:59 AM | Link to this
Government has no place in the areas where private enterprises can do a job or service, PERIOD!
By Abomi Nation
August 19, 2008 10:01 AM | Link to this
Atlanta should privatize? Kinda like Cobb EMC? I’m sure surprised you haven’t heard how Cobb EMC was swallowed up by Cobb Energy, Jim. You sure won’t write about it, will you?
This was a great opportunity to let everyone know how privatization is done, using Cobb Energy as your example. You had the chance to show us how the ratepayers in Cobb have benefited from this theft, er, I mean “privatization.”
Heck, I’ll bet your Cobb Energy stock has skyrocketed. You do own Cobb Energy stock, don’t you Jim?
By Peter
August 19, 2008 10:03 AM | Link to this
Good point …………By professional skeptic,
“Next, imagine a Middle Eastern nation’s sovereign wealth fund acquiring a controlling interest in the management company operating our toll roads.
Are we prepared to allow a scenario like this to unfold?”
I guess you don’t remember BUSH wanted American Shipping Ports to be run by a foreign CORPORATION !
Another BRIGHT Idea by the Republican Leadership !
By Politics Aside
August 19, 2008 10:06 AM | Link to this
Very strategic insight into Wooten’s writing prowess, Copyleft. He and Bookman are in a contest: who can saw with the least incisive maw. Why do you think they call them chestnuts?
Example? When I got an accounting degree and couldn’t get a job, someone said, “it’s not what you know it’s who you know”. That’s a wootenism.
When my fiance ran off with a used car salesman after a short seperation, someone said, “Out of sight, out of mind”. That’s a Bookmanism.
They write in the most aggregious cliched-infested maxim-ized bromides, platitudes, and moldy mottos…..
Why, they dodge truth with adages….
They use trite phrases that are conversational, yet totally unfounded by fact, truth or logic. They get away with murder. Then, they call me out, for a very slight but still true fact fault.
like when I claimed that gas is still cheaper than it was in 1974. Well, I meant the winter of ‘73-74, and it was in fact ‘73 when I paid 88 cents for a gallon of gas in detroit, which is like 4.50 today. But bookman jumped all over it, like it finally dawned on him that whiteman speaketh with forked tongue.
Then he has the nerve to write the pos he wrote today about Georgia. I counted the unbased overgeneralizations and total banalities in wooten and bookman today, and have a number, and that is today’s contest for bloggers.
Count the refried beans in the jar. The person who guesses the right number wins my total respect and I’ll never flame you again, even if it’s duhng or that other hand to mouth schmearwad.
Now that’s both numbers. Wooten’s and Bookman’s vapidities.
Contest closes at 6pm. Winner announced tomorrow. The judges will be using the same formula that gave the 12 year old the gold in the uneven bars last night, the dirty rats.
By ButtHead
August 19, 2008 10:10 AM | Link to this
The Truth, you are demented, how much worst than dying does it have to get for you to see that our government is good at one thing, taking money and not providing inadequate service. I guess if it was your mother that died you may think differently.
By ron
August 19, 2008 10:10 AM | Link to this
Good morning.The private sector ,combined with government officials always equeals corruption and nepotism.Government officials,left to their own devices usually end with lots of money spent with little to show for it.Private sector companies can save taxpayers money if a bid system is in place and run honestly.The chances of that happening is zero.
Takinng the above into account,the system we have now is no better or no worse than privatizing government services.The net results wil be the same.
Here’s something to contemplate before privatizing.The shoddiness of the job will linger long after the initial glow obtained by the money saved by accepting the low bidder.
By Lee
August 19, 2008 10:14 AM | Link to this
If you think it is hard to fire a public employee, try firing a private contract company. First thing they do is go to their politician-employees and complain.
Boeing is contesting not being awarded a lucrative Air Force contract. However, Boeing has also been found guilty of fraud and corruption and dirty dealing in previous government contracts. Doesn’t matter. They have good politicans for friends, and thus can manipulate the system better than any single employee can.
I sure wish I had a “Republican 401 Retirement Fund,” you know, one that invested only in companies (oil, defense, faith-based-do-nothing-companies, etc.) that are friends with George Bush and friends. They are the only ones who have made enormous profits in the last seven years.
By Dennis
August 19, 2008 10:15 AM | Link to this
By Copyleft August 19, 2008 9:37 AM
Our nation is in a hole like its never been because of “Privatize everything; government is the enemy; corporations are our rightful masters, and none shall question their divinity.”.
And Mr. Wooten either can’t see it or is not man enough to admit it.
By Techiman
August 19, 2008 10:32 AM | Link to this
What ever happened to integrity public or private? This incident makes me feel ashamed of being a resident of Fulton County.
By TPox
August 19, 2008 10:36 AM | Link to this
Dennis makes a fearful point about BlackWater Mercenaries.
There’s a hundred thousand armed militia getting front line urban training in Iraq. Their paid by corporate america, who got us into Iraq.
What’s to stop Blackwater from coming here and causing meyhem? It’s like this is what Mr Woo, of China, is waiting for. So he writes these banal bromides like he’s trying to hypnotize us all into thinking a strang army isn’t about to take over.
Is there one person in America that trusts Cheney not to hire Blackwater to overthrow our congress? Take over our streets?
Privatize Revolution! Remember the Hessians? George Washington saved our independence by ambushing those drunken german ne’er-do-wells. One little known fact is that one survivor of the ambush was a hessian named Wolfgang Hitler, who was the great great great great great great great grandpa of Der Fuehrer.
Word down.
By Redneck Convert
August 19, 2008 10:38 AM | Link to this
Well, ol’ Luckovich (prounounced shuh-SHEF-skee) drew Joe Bill and his family today and he’s plenty POed about it. Joe Bill don’t abide bein’ made fun of my no librul. Have a good day everybody – except Luckovich. Joe Bill is headed down yonder to Marietta Street to give him what fer.
By Peter
August 19, 2008 10:52 AM | Link to this
Jim………. after 8 horrible years with BUSH……. America is about to face the worse crises, it has yet to deal with…….
Large U.S. bank collapse seen ahead Tuesday August 19, 1:07 am ET By Jan Dahinten
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The worst of the global financial crisis is yet to come and a large U.S. bank will fail in the next few months as the world’s biggest economy hits further troubles, former IMF chief economist Kenneth Rogoff said on Tuesday.
“The U.S. is not out of the woods. I think the financial crisis is at the halfway point, perhaps. I would even go further to say ‘the worst is to come’,” he told a financial conference.
“We’re not just going to see mid-sized banks go under in the next few months, we’re going to see a whopper, we’re going to see a big one, one of the big investment banks or big banks,” said Rogoff, who is an economics professor at Harvard University and was the International Monetary Fund’s chief economist from 2001 to 2004.
“We have to see more consolidation in the financial sector before this is over,” he said, when asked for early signs of an end to the crisis.
“Probably Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — despite what U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson said — these giant mortgage guarantee agencies are not going to exist in their present form in a few years.”
Rogoff’s comments come as investors dumped shares of the largest U.S. home funding companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Monday after a newspaper report said government officials may have no choice but to effectively nationalize the U.S. housing finance titans.
Look here Jim……… READ………
“government officials may have no choice but to effectively nationalize the U.S. housing finance titans.”
Jim wants to Privatize…………and on the same day he writes his BALONEY…….we get the Government will need to take over the housing Market, as Privatization has NOT only NOT worked………BUT…….
IT will cost AMERICAN TAXPAYERS BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
8 Years of George BUSH……….and what do we have ?
A nation on the verge of major FINANCIAL Problems.
By Morrigan
August 19, 2008 10:55 AM | Link to this
No one’s mentioned a huge part of the problem, whether the entity is public or private.
That dispatcher is black.
You can’t fire blacks no matter how badly they carry out their duties.
Go ahead, call me a bigot. Someone’s dead because of political correctness.
By TPox
August 19, 2008 11:01 AM | Link to this
Techiman, being a Fultonite is the last reason YOU should be ashamed……jklol
red, thanx for being brief.
den, USA aint in no hole. nothing ever changes, except for observer’s spin
UC, den, nothing is happening now that hasn’t been happening since Adam. That’s right, the snake was a grocer. The lie that damned Eve was a marketing campaign. “behold the apple. It’s good for you.”
The only one who overreacted was god, who apparently owned a vegetable cartel. That’s why he sent his only son to be cruciferfied.
oh, dont reach for THAT one andy, that’s WAY over your head.
By BFKaJ
August 19, 2008 11:06 AM | Link to this
Dear Truth @ 9:46, “Could you begin to imagine a country in which there was only a police department and a military?” Yes, Switzerland is close. “Moreover, the services of most government agencies cannot be fulfilled by the private sector, because they are not profitable.” Thus trash pickup must be government? Fire extinguishment must be government? More to the point, you confuse provision of services and purchase of services. Jim Wooten’s essay this morning proposed having government pay for services provided by outside contractors rather than government employees. While I think reasonable minds may disagree on the desirability of many government spending programs, the purpose of the essay is to advance a different perspective of the need for government employees to provide services paid for by government. Government employees are not a sacred need of the government. “Most people will agree [that they need Big Brother] when forced on this issue.” Yes, “forced” is the key word there - we all know the power of the government’s guns.
Dear Skeptic @ 9:52, I respectfully urge you to find for us a private sector job that does not depend on service to the customer. Your writing suggests you have never held a private sector position. No entity stays in business long by treating the customers badly, other than government monopolies.
By The Truth
August 19, 2008 11:07 AM | Link to this
Dear Butthead @ 10:10,
You say that the only thing government is good at it taking people’s money. What do you think private enterprise does? Ever hear of “profits”? They take our money for things we need, like gasoline and health care. If you think we don’t need either one of those and won’t pay out the nose for them, look around you. It is already happening.
And our corporate masters, who own all of the Republican party and most of the Democratic party, are laughing all the way to the bank, before setting off on their latest trip to a Caribbean resort.
If my mother died? Using an emotional example, eh? Won’t work. Evidently the individual who was responsible has been dealt with. If you want to indict an entire system of government based on the negligence of one individual, I suggest you start at the top, in the Oval Office.
And by the way, many government employees are fired all time. You don’t think hacks and brown-nosers with no talent and no work ethic inhabit the private sector?
Say hi to Beavis for me.
By BFKaJ
August 19, 2008 11:10 AM | Link to this
Dear Peter @ 10:52, just to spoil your silly rant, do you have even the slightest idea of what was unique about June 25, 2004 until February 2, 2007?
By MrLiberty
August 19, 2008 11:12 AM | Link to this
What is truly pathetic is how much republicans embrace the idea of “privatization,” but I guess it isn’t surprising. Republicans have favored stealing from the general public in support of their corporate interests since their beginnings. It was the main priciple of the Federalists, the Whigs, and then the Republicans, and was at the heart of the disagreement that led to the second war of secession.
First of all government services are nothing but socialism. They are paid for through taxation and are a monopoly. Not only is there no competition in providing the service, there is never even a question as to whether or not it is even needed. When the operating revenue is stolen, and the monopoloy is guaranteed, how can anyone expect there not to be similar issues as with government operation.
Republicans favor “privatization” so that they can line the pockets of their business friends. Democrats prefer government monopolies so that they can line the pockets of their “supporters” pockets. Folks like union heads and members, teachers, police, and other tax takers.
What’s worse is that republicans try and pass these “privatization” measures off as the “free market.” Not only are they almost as far from free market capitalism as you can get, the rampant corruption that is inevitable only serves to give the truly free market a bad name.
A truly competitive market in fire prevention and protection services, the same in crime prevention and protecion services, the same in medical emergency services and the same in caritable care provision would be wonderful. There is certainly no reason why every current government service could not be opened up to the free market, with most having to compete for charitable giving or subscription service. What a wonderful world that would be. Not only would the entitlement mentality be driven from both the providers and the recipients, but services that nobody wants to support would languish without funds and pass away as many should have decades ago.
We do not question the availability of food in our society as the free market has the task well in hand (well yes, minimal regulation, etc.). The citizens of the former Soviet Union were in constant fear of food shortages specifically because the government controlled the process from field to table. Whether it be the non-stop unwarranted killings, the 9-11 failures, the closing of fire stations, the poor educational performance, or the ever-loved motor vehicle department, government provision of services is a complete failure. It is high time a better solution is put forth, but don’t be deceived by the republicans who only want to grant permanent monopolies to their friends. Listen to the libertarians who know that the free market had proven itself once in our history and is the only mechanism that will ever solve the problem of government provided failure and corruption.
By @@
August 19, 2008 11:16 AM | Link to this
There’s just no incentive to be civil in one’s service when government employed, now is there Jim?
Sounds like Ms. Conteh thought everyone was out to get her! Well she got her pound of flesh, didn’t she?……..she got it from Ms. Dukes.
Whaddya wanna bet, Ms. Conteh would be the first, the loudest and the most litigious with the 411 if her 911 wasn’t responded to post-haste?
By TPox
August 19, 2008 11:17 AM | Link to this
I can forgive Wookman (both) for today’s distraction from the real issue: Pakistan’s Power Vacuum. It’s frightening to contemplate.
One only needs to hear India about Musharraf’s departure: “Who has their finger on the nuke button now?”
We know very little about the factions vying for power now. We can guess that Islamic Radicals are on the front lines, however.
I first realized how precarious our stake in Pakistan was when Musharref did the talk show circuit here a few years ago promoting his book. That’s right, the lynchpin to armeggedon wrote a book, some bio about how a nobody could work hard and end up in a position to unleash armeggedon on the world just by quiting his job.
Our intel about Pakistan? Does it matter? It’s wrong. Hello, is that a rocket tube or are you just enriched to see Valerie Plame?
We dont have a chinaman’s chance of knowing how close to an islamist state pakistan is.
I can deduce that there will be machinations and a series of political evolutions that may lead to an islamist madman in control who’ll make Osama look like an unshaven guy hiding in a cave……D’OH!
My fellow americans: RU sick of the lies, the distractions and the nonsense?
Obama 08: America takes over.
By Peter
August 19, 2008 11:17 AM | Link to this
Ok tell me please………….By BFKaJ
August 19, 2008 11:10 AM | Link to this
Dear Peter @ 10:52, just to spoil your silly rant, do you have even the slightest idea of what was unique about June 25, 2004 until February 2, 2007?
By the way if America was run the way the Swiss run their country, we would NOT be in the current Financial difficulties, we are in today !
By Just Nasty and Mean
August 19, 2008 11:28 AM | Link to this
G’Mornin Jim, et al,
Welcome Back Captain Freedom!
We all know what is wrong with Atlanta/Fulton/Clayton/LIthonia/East Point/Dekalb government. We just can’t say it.
For the life of me, I cannot point to a SINGLE THING Fulton County does well, EXCEPT for sending out property tax bills where they are re markedly efficient. Of course, the amount taxed is an unmitigated debacle, but those damn tax bills go out on time!
The rest—Sheriff, Courts, Jail, Assessment, Public Works, DFACS, Library, DA, Housing, MARTA, and Grady—-you name it— are all incomparable cluster mucks of an order that would gag a garbage truck maggot.
These buffoons that breed generation after generation of cronyism, nepotism, and inefficiency unmatched in any 3rd world banana republic deserve to be flushed down their own budget busting sewer system to drown in their own excrement for what they have perpetrated on the rest of us.
Instead, moronic blood sucking voters will return the likes of Emma (welfare queen) Darnell, Bill (lemon sucker) Edwards, Ron (Fire hoses and police dogs) Eaves to promulgate this endless fiasco.
By Reaity Check
August 19, 2008 11:34 AM | Link to this
Butthead @10:10
Mine did. My mother died in the back of a private ambulance while the driver tried to call around to see which hospital to take her to after she had a blood vessel rupture in her brain. Privatization can’t fix everything. It could not save my mom.
By CW
August 19, 2008 11:35 AM | Link to this
Large companies operate much the same way. Atlanta should be very careful about which ones are used as role models.
By Professor Marvel
August 19, 2008 11:35 AM | Link to this
Gee, Wooten, why so harsh? I mean, you still have your job, and the slanted half-truths and pathetic whining you pass off as journalism every day are some of the worst I’ve seen anywhere!!
By big diff
August 19, 2008 11:36 AM | Link to this
pete.
U.S. Population 303,824,646
Area:
total: 9,826,630 sq km
land: 9,161,923 sq km
water: 664,707 sq km
note: includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia
Switzerland’s population: 7,581,520
Switzerland’s Area:
total: 41,290 sq km
land: 39,770 sq km
water: 1,520 sq km
By Thomas Paine
August 19, 2008 11:46 AM | Link to this
off course privatization doesn’t work. this is because government doesn’t work. it really doesn’t matter who is providing the service. 911 operations, law enforcement, education, public safety, homeland security, etc., etc. The BUSINESS of government is to sell the public on the idea that it can provide services. In the end, the only thing government (at ALL levels) is good at is grabbing power. convincing John Q. Public to swap freedom for security, when in reality, John Q. Public has never enjoyed either. don’t let this out, or we might have a second American revolution on our hands.
By Dredging Bottom
August 19, 2008 11:51 AM | Link to this
Anyone check out Robert Gates (defense secretary, morons) bristling aside military options and focusing on sending humanitarian relief to the beliguered Georgian refugees?
How Lincoln of him. Remember when Lincoln also was only sending supplies to Fort Sumter? Lets see, how did that turn out? Oh yeah! The greatest catastophe in our history. the civil war.
Democrats aren’t immune either. Look at Sam Nunn’s interview on page A5 in the AJC today: “pull together….I dont know…hey, this is like the berlin airlift….”
Here’s my facts: Wars always start on little known buffer states because they get included in larger alliances as friend of a friend of a friend. Hello, world war one?
Y cant people understand history and apply it to today. there’s no buffer zone worth a nuclear exchange. Period.
Old lies from the past: Domino Theory, where the world can be destroyed in 30 minutes or less……Mutually assured destruction, where the world can be destroyed in 30 minutes or less, even if it’s over a fly getting into the radar equipment and fooling a radar operator into thinking that someone just launched an all out nuclear attack, (this happened a half a dozen times during the cold war)…..
aw, to hell with it, nobody’s listening. Go ‘head, America. Destroy yourselves over swarthy little people in a province you cant even pronounce.
ISAIDDESTROYYOURSELVES!!!
By EGObama
August 19, 2008 11:51 AM | Link to this
How predictable is this? Government educated people decrying privatization? Who’d have thought that in addition to our religious institutions and the military—that our system of economics is fatally flawed too!
You don’t have to be a government employee to understand it….but it helps.
By Peter
August 19, 2008 11:54 AM | Link to this
Hey ……… By big diff ………..I think the major thing you forgot to mention………..
Switzerland…probably the RICHEST country in the world per individual Income……..
Yes it would be nice if American’s could learn something from well run countries !
But No……… America will spend Billions in the next few years bailing out US Corporations with TAX PAYERS MONEY !
8 Years of Bush, and what did America get………. ?
8 Years of Bush, and how much money has America and American’s lost ………. ?
By The Truth
August 19, 2008 11:57 AM | Link to this
Dear BFKaJ,
Please read my posts in their entirety before wasting our time.
Switzerland is not even close. That example has been demolished a thousand times by other people elsewhere. No need to rehash that here.
You say that I confuse purchase and provision of services (your terms). It goes to the heart of my argument, which you have not read evidently. As you say: “Jim Wooten’s essay this morning proposed having government pay for services provided by outside contractors rather than government employees.” And…. when the government pays that fee for a private company to provide the service, the private company will do everything in its power to cut corners in the delivery of that service to maximize its profits.
PLEASE, explain how you can get around that inherent flaw in every privatization scheme? Oversight you say? You mean by the politicians who get contributions from the private companies that are awarded the contracts.
Good luck with your answer!
Oh, and yes, firefighters and garbage men should be government employees. Otherwise, the working poor (i.e. those poor people who work full time and cannot make ends meet) will not be able to pay for such services. Yet the law says that they must have their garbage removed? And yet they don’t want to lose their lives and meager possessions in a house fire?
So what would they do in a privatized world? You may say they should work harder and get a better job. Well, then who will do the low wage job they left behind? If everyone worked as hard as machines, we would still have PhDs cleaning toilets. The lowest paid jobs will always exist in a capitalist economy. To placate those grumbling masses, reality says that they must be compensated with basic necessities through some sort of redistribution of wealth. Otherwise, the barbarians will be at the gates of the subdivisions in Suwanee. Now, we don’t want that, do we?
Dear Truth @ 9:46, “Could you begin to imagine a country in which there was only a police department and a military?” Yes, Switzerland is close. “Moreover, the services of most government agencies cannot be fulfilled by the private sector, because they are not profitable.” Thus trash pickup must be government? Fire extinguishment must be government? More to the point, you confuse provision of services and purchase of services. Jim Wooten’s essay this morning proposed having government pay for services provided by outside contractors rather than government employees. While I think reasonable minds may disagree on the desirability of many government spending programs, the purpose of the essay is to advance a different perspective of the need for government employees to provide services paid for by government. Government employees are not a sacred need of the government. “Most people will agree [that they need Big Brother] when forced on this issue.” Yes, “forced” is the key word there - we all know the power of the government’s guns.
By Southern Born
August 19, 2008 12:01 PM | Link to this
There’s one factor that has been overlooked in today’s usual exchange of hyper-partisan spitting, and imho it’s an issue that is core to the waste and corruption seen in government provided services, regardless of whether a service is ultimately provided by a public or private worker:
Career Politicians.
What is at the center of all the corruption? Why are there back-room and under-the-table dealings? Who ultimately benefits from the sweetheart deals, whether in the form of cash, perks or fire-proof jobs for friends and family? Who has no problem confiscating the money we earn and spending it on nothing but things that ensure that they keep their positions?
Career Politicians.
From city council all the way up to “Senator-for-Life,” the same scoundrels are re-elected over and over again by people who either don’t think or don’t care (or, more likely, inaccurately credit/blame the President for everything.)
Oh how I long for the day of universal term limits, but as it is with the FairTax, no one in power would be willing to be part of such a massive transfer of that power back down to the people.
My solution, then, is to do the next best thing, which is to re-elect NO ONE!
By GOPs got to go
August 19, 2008 12:03 PM | Link to this
With all this privatization talk about free markets and bidding, please explain why Halliburton and Blackwater have basically had no competition for huge contracts in Iraq? Where is the bidding? Where is the free market? Can you say cronyism? Follow the money trail on those no-bid contracts back to Cheney. He is the real crook.
By Dennis
August 19, 2008 12:09 PM | Link to this
By TPox August 19, 2008 10:36 AM “Dennis makes a fearful point about BlackWater Mercenaries.”
Mark my word, it will not be long before corporations have these goons on tops of their buildings with machine guns and at their gates with assult rifles, busting civil protestors over the head.
It’s not foreign terrorists the corporations and our government are afraid of, it’s the American people.
The American people know too much about how the corporate American empire came about and how it is maintained - Iraq being but one example.
You don’t have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.
By The Truth
August 19, 2008 12:12 PM | Link to this
Dear BFKaJ,
Please read my posts in their entirety before wasting our time.
Switzerland is not even close. That example has been demolished a thousand times by other people elsewhere. No need to rehash that here.
You say that I confuse purchase and provision of services (your terms). It goes to the heart of my argument, which you have not read evidently. As you say: “Jim Wooten’s essay this morning proposed having government pay for services provided by outside contractors rather than government employees.” And…. when the government pays that fee for a private company to provide the service, the private company will do everything in its power to cut corners in the delivery of that service to maximize its profits.
PLEASE, explain how you can get around that inherent flaw in every privatization scheme? Oversight you say? You mean by the politicians who get contributions from the private companies that are awarded the contracts.
Good luck with your answer!
Oh, and yes, firefighters and garbage men should be government employees. Otherwise, the working poor (i.e. those poor people who work full time and cannot make ends meet) will not be able to pay for such services. Yet the law says that they must have their garbage removed? And yet they don’t want to lose their lives and meager possessions in a house fire?
So what would they do in a privatized world? You may say they should work harder and get a better job. Well, then who will do the low wage job they left behind? If everyone worked as hard as machines, we would still have PhDs cleaning toilets. The lowest paid jobs will always exist in a capitalist economy. To placate those grumbling masses, reality says that they must be compensated with basic necessities through some sort of redistribution of wealth. Otherwise, the barbarians will be at the gates of the subdivisions in Suwanee. Now, we don’t want that, do we?
Dear Truth @ 9:46, “Could you begin to imagine a country in which there was only a police department and a military?” Yes, Switzerland is close. “Moreover, the services of most government agencies cannot be fulfilled by the private sector, because they are not profitable.” Thus trash pickup must be government? Fire extinguishment must be government? More to the point, you confuse provision of services and purchase of services. Jim Wooten’s essay this morning proposed having government pay for services provided by outside contractors rather than government employees. While I think reasonable minds may disagree on the desirability of many government spending programs, the purpose of the essay is to advance a different perspective of the need for government employees to provide services paid for by government. Government employees are not a sacred need of the government. “Most people will agree [that they need Big Brother] when forced on this issue.” Yes, “forced” is the key word there - we all know the power of the government’s guns.
By Peter
August 19, 2008 12:15 PM | Link to this
Hey ………By GOPs got to go…….you hit the nail on the head………..
Please realize the Iraq WAR was not about Freeing a people from a dictator………
It was all about the OIL, and the WAR time Corporations……… the real reason the WAR was started so a FEW Greedy Men could basically become god awful wealthy, on American Citizens Tax dollars……… all given Away by Cheney and Bush.
The Republican’s in office are really War Criminals !
By Dredging Bottom
August 19, 2008 12:20 PM | Link to this
Thomas Paine, you’re right! NOthing works except war. War is the natural state of things. War and capitilism are the soup and sandwich of our culture.
Why dont we embrace war, admit we’re animals, and start shooting?
By AmVet
August 19, 2008 12:32 PM | Link to this
Please realize the Iraq WAR was not about Freeing a people from a dictator………
Peter, IMHO you could not be more correct. I believe it was “reason” number five or six if memory serves.
And the chickenhawks were duped en masse at the ridiculous attempts to tie the contained Baathists to OBL.
And though I believe he is misguided about this occupation based on deceit, McCain was correct - Rumsfeld was the worst SecDef in American history, as befits the worst president ever.
Even so, I’m starting to get a bit of a bad feeling about McCain and his handlers. This constant juvenile crying about the unfair media and this cozying up to the right wing religious nut jobs who helped tank the GOP in the first place (though Obama seems no better in this regard) are BIG red flags.
But there are other hopeful areas and he has one ENORMOUS hurdle to yet cross - his VP choice.
Should he make a “conservative” one, he outright hands the White House to the Democrats.
It may be inevitable anyway…
By Hillbilly Deluxe
August 19, 2008 12:41 PM | Link to this
Jim writes that Fulton County has $510 million in unfunded pension liabilities like that is unusual. The private sector in America has billions in unfunded pension liabilities. We had the savings and loan mess, then the subprime mess, and now the banking mess. All that is gonna look like childs play when the unfunded pension liability thing finally implodes.
By Patriot4Life
August 19, 2008 12:54 PM | Link to this
Osama 08: America takes over.
By Ga Values
August 19, 2008 12:58 PM | Link to this
My daughter is in law school at the University of Zurich, I just got off the phone with her after telling her that I had not been to an all you can eat place in 4 months she said if I really wanted to lose weight to stay with her because she could not afford to eat meat or large portions. My wife who spends a week the 1st week of December at the Plaza in NYC X’mas shopping, spent 2 weeks in Zurich.. her 1st words off the plane were”You can’t believe how expensive Zurich is”. She checked out of her $400/night hotel & stayed in my daughter’s dorm room.
By Patriot4Life
August 19, 2008 1:00 PM | Link to this
Joke of the day: Is that a rocket tube in your pocket or are you just enriched to see Valerie Plame?
By ghost rider
August 19, 2008 1:00 PM | Link to this
By AmVet
August 19, 2008 12:32 PM | Link to this
AmVet I like your arguments except one….
McCain began publicly urging the United States to overthrow Saddam Hussein as early as 1997, calling on the Clinton administration to set up an Iraqi government in exile.
Guess who McCain recommended as the head of that government? Chalabi!
McCain also competed with Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld in telling Americans how easy the war would be.
At that time McCain had nothing but great things to say about Rumsfeld. It was only later that McCain flip-flopped once again…and declared Rumsfeld a disaster.
McCain was wrong on every count, and the image of victory he projected - our friend Chalabi leading a peaceful, democratic Iraq that would welcome American military bases for as long as 100 years -
I think your “BAD FEELING” about McCain is well warranted!
Web site for more info on the MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE!
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/95373/warriorjohnmccain:farmoredangerousthan_bush/
By slap happy
August 19, 2008 1:04 PM | Link to this
By Ga Values 12:58 PM
And your point?
By Peter
August 19, 2008 1:09 PM | Link to this
Yes……..by Ghost rider……McLost has not a clue……..and would be the GUY who will start WW III.
According to Congressional testimony from Gen. David Petraeus, the rapprochement with the Sunnis actually began well before the new troops arrived. More importantly, it will likely prove short-lived if the Shi’a-led government in Baghdad does not move quickly to give the Sunnis a fair share of the economic and political future of a united Iraq. As McCain and others originally proposed it, the surge was supposed to create time and space for these and other political steps, but the Iraqis see no reason to seek political solutions as long as they believe that American troops will remain in country to protect them from their domestic rivals.
McCain does not dispute this. He ignores it, just as he refuses to see that the continued presence of American troops in Iraq has helped to recruit far more anti-American jihadists in Iraq and out than we can ever hope to kill, a point CIA and other analysts have repeatedly made. This is the political side of our current military disaster, and McCain just does not get it. For all his much-vaunted experience, he simply cannot see that a foreign military presence will generally create a hugely negative response, as it has in post-colonial lands from Iraq to Afghanistan — and just as it would in his native Arizona.
McLost does not get it……..and if we think Bush is bad news, which he is…..wow this looks worse !
By Poste Haste
August 19, 2008 1:13 PM | Link to this
Ga Values, so your saying your daughter in law has bulemia and cant gain weight? Tell her to answer this question: what came first, the shoulder padding on t-shirts or Jenny Craig?
you know, Wendy’s has a salad bar, man.
By Peter
August 19, 2008 1:30 PM | Link to this
Hey By Poste Haste………
I think what “GA VALUES” was saying is that…………. the fall of the dollar because of the BUSH administration has been Sooooooooo steep…………. that his daughter, who decided to go to LAW SCHOOL, in Switzerland, because the EDUCATION IS BETTER…….seeing that America cuts the education budget so we can go to WAR…..Can barely afford the FOOD !
He also mentioned that his wife could NOT afford the Hotel Bill………… because the dollar wasn’t worth squat in EUROPE as well……..
Maybe, that is why I read that Foreign corporations from all over the WORLD are ………. Buying up America’s land, and Businesses……….
America is for sale at a drastic discount………….
Thank you George Bush………… Doing what you do best, to cheapen AMERICA !
By The Ohio State Buckeyes
August 19, 2008 1:39 PM | Link to this
Greg what do you think of Mr. Obama campaign workers? The come in all different colors.
Do you even know what black theology is?
You think Reverend Wright is the only person who has curse the country but yet has done 20 times more for this country then you have!
You cannot even match Reverend Wright service to this country and yet you put your little pen head comment on the board about why you are not voting for a person.
You are what bill o reilly calls a penhead!
By AmVet
August 19, 2008 1:39 PM | Link to this
ghost rider, thanks for the info.
And yes there is no denying that McCain was VERY in favor of regime change. So some contend he is an example of the right tactics and the wrong strategy.
There is no doubt that his political future is inextricably linked to the bungled Iraqi invasion and even more bungled occupation.
That more than anything is what connects him to this pathetic and duplicitous administration and probably what is going to doom him to being the next Bob Dole.
And it is kind of a shame, because in numerous other areas he is the very antithesis of the neo-cons…
By Jack Cafferty
August 19, 2008 1:39 PM | Link to this
Russia invades Georgia and President Bush goes on vacation. Our president has spent one-third of his entire two terms in office either at Camp David, Maryland, or at Crawford, Texas, on vacation.
His time away from the Oval Office included the month leading up to 9/11, when there were signs Osama bin Laden was planning to attack America, and the time Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city of New Orleans.
Sen. John McCain takes weekends off and limits his campaign events to one a day. He made an exception for the religious forum on Saturday at Saddleback Church in Southern California.
I think he made a big mistake. When he was invited last spring to attend a discussion of the role of faith in his life with Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, at Messiah College in Pennsylvania, McCain didn’t bother to show up. Now I know why.
It occurs to me that John McCain is as intellectually shallow as our current president. When asked what his Christian faith means to him, his answer was a one-liner. “It means I’m saved and forgiven.” Great scholars have wrestled with the meaning of faith for centuries. McCain then retold a story we’ve all heard a hundred times about a guard in Vietnam drawing a cross in the sand.
Asked about his greatest moral failure, he cited his first marriage, which ended in divorce. While saying it was his greatest moral failing, he offered nothing in the way of explanation. Why not?
Don’t Miss The Cafferty File: Join the conversation Jack’s book: “It’s Getting Ugly Out There” Analysis: Is McCain finding his way on faith? Throughout the evening, McCain chose to recite portions of his stump speech as answers to the questions he was being asked. Why? He has lived 71 years. Surely he has some thoughts on what it all means that go beyond canned answers culled from the same speech he delivers every day.
He was asked “if evil exists.” His response was to repeat for the umpteenth time that Osama bin Laden is a bad man and he will pursue him to “the gates of hell.” That was it.
He was asked to define rich. After trying to dodge the question — his wife is worth a reported $100 million — he finally said he thought an income of $5 million was rich.
One after another, McCain’s answers were shallow, simplistic, and trite. He showed the same intellectual curiosity that George Bush has — virtually none.
Where are John McCain’s writings exploring the vexing moral issues of our time? Where are his position papers setting forth his careful consideration of foreign policy, the welfare state, education, America’s moral responsibility in the world, etc., etc., etc.?
John McCain graduated 894th in a class of 899 at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. His father and grandfather were four star admirals in the Navy. Some have suggested that might have played a role in McCain being admitted. His academic record was awful. And it shows over and over again whenever McCain is called upon to think on his feet.
He no longer allows reporters unfettered access to him aboard the “Straight Talk Express” for a reason. He simply makes too many mistakes. Unless he’s reciting talking points or reading from notes or a TelePrompTer, John McCain is lost. He can drop bon mots at a bowling alley or diner — short glib responses that get a chuckle, but beyond that McCain gets in over his head very quickly.
I am sick and tired of the president of the United States embarrassing me. The world we live in is too complex to entrust it to someone else whose idea of intellectual curiosity and grasp of foreign policy issues is to tell us he can look into Vladimir Putin’s eyes and see into his soul.
George Bush’s record as a student, military man, businessman and leader of the free world is one of constant failure. And the part that troubles me most is he seems content with himself.
He will leave office with the country $10 trillion in debt, fighting two wars, our international reputation in shambles, our government cloaked in secrecy and suspicion that his entire presidency has been a litany of broken laws and promises, our citizens’ faith in our own country ripped to shreds. Yet Bush goes bumbling along, grinning and spewing moronic one-liners, as though nobody understands what a colossal failure he has been.
I fear to the depth of my being that John McCain is just like him.
By SaveOurRepublic
August 19, 2008 1:47 PM | Link to this
Privatization indeed has it’s downfalls…corruption, mismanagement, etc. One of the biggest scourges on the American populace is Corporate welfare. However, these discrepancies occur more so on the government side. On the highest levels (Federal, big Corporations), they are both controlled by the same rulers…the Globalist Elite (aka “Military-Industrial complex”). However, there is slightly more leeway on the lower levels (municipal) etc. All in all, the government which governs less is the one that governs best!
http://www.jbs.org
By Peter
August 19, 2008 1:49 PM | Link to this
Can you imagine this statement………..
“By The Ohio State Buckeyes
August 19, 2008 1:39 PM | Link to this
Greg what do you think of Mr. Obama campaign workers? They come in all different colors.”
WOW what a revelation……..we have many different ethnic groups in America !
Gee isn’t that what makes America so Great ……..our diversity !
And of course now the name calling…….. as the intelligence takes over………
“You are what bill o reilly calls a penhead!”
I guess this person must be a Right Wing Republican….showing off his ………”Family Values”….. or is that his “Faulty Intelligence” !
By ghost rider
August 19, 2008 1:54 PM | Link to this
By Jack Cafferty
August 19, 2008 1:39 PM
Jack:
AMEN!
By AmVet
August 19, 2008 2:09 PM | Link to this
The somewhat curmudgeonly Cafferty offers sobering analysis of the senior Senator from Arizona.
I remember watching GWB campaign in 2000 and thinking, what a fatally flawed candidate. The man was as dumb (by presidential standards) as they could possibly come. Worse, he appeared to have a complete lack of intellectual curiosity as noted by Jack.
And unlike the most revered Ronnie, he would only surround himself with sycophants and the like minded. No room for dissent, or even adaptation, in this administration, no sir. And the ostriches and faithful mistook it for “being a man of his convictions”, “not governing via polls” and other such trite pablum.
This mixed with that imperious nature of his and that inane mythology which provided him with all of the “moral clarity” he needed, proved to be a deadly cocktail.
We are after all, talking about the man who couldn’t even admit making ANY mistakes for years on end!
Is McCain like him in this regard?
And will he too surround himself with such a lousy lot?
And does he have the same pitiful track record of failure?
And the same skewed mindset?
I personally don’t think so, but some of the signs are disturbing…
By T
August 19, 2008 2:11 PM | Link to this
George Bush’s record as a student, military man, businessman and leader of the free world is one of constant failure. And the part that troubles me most is he seems content with himself.
Do you realize how much money he has made on the backs of American citizens? It’s gross. I guess if i was smart enough I would have invested heavily in military weaponry and oil. I wonder if he can look at his own reflection?
I am sick and tired of the president of the United States embarrassing me.
1: When he went over seas and begged for more oil production from a man in a dress. (forgive my intolerance)
2: This one hurt the most. When all those Americans drowned and died of thirst in this country. Then the Mexican Army aided in the clean up.
By Peggy Davis
August 19, 2008 2:15 PM | Link to this
How about the 85 billion dollars taxpayers have paid to military contractors since 2003? Not only do for-profit contractors have less incentive to do the work right than members of the military, but funneling large public funds to the private sector can affect policy and lead to corruption even faster than in a government bureaucracy. It may be that 911 services are an instance where the private sector should be used, but taxpayer money handed over to the private sector is not a panacea.
By ron
August 19, 2008 2:27 PM | Link to this
Jack Cafferty
…and I fear to the depth of me that Obama is like an immature Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton.
Be afraid - very afraid…
By Peter
August 19, 2008 2:31 PM | Link to this
Hey By Peggy Davis…..
Watch the Movie “Iraq For Sale”…….you will not only see how correct you are………………….. but how badly America is Being Bilked by the no bid, and Cost plus contracts, that Dick Cheney’s office have given to all the President’s buddies !
Heck Dick Cheney wrote some of the very contracts he gave away…….. no wonder Halliburton moved from US soil…………….not only will they NOT have to pay taxes on the money we have handed them……..today we know they have been breaking laws and totally ripping off the service men they are suppose to HELP !
American’s being ripped off by the President and VP of the USA ! War criminals……..
“True Republican Family Values”
By getalife "whiners"
August 19, 2008 2:33 PM | Link to this
Jack Cafferty is a Clinton hater Obama hack that read a Peggy Noonan hit piece on President Clinton on the air.
STFU Jack and GFY!
BTW, I would refrain from Chinese food hack.
By GOPs got to go
August 19, 2008 2:33 PM | Link to this
Let us not forget that the surge corresponded with our Governments decision to start paying Sunni and Shia not to fight. They receive about the equivalent to 20$/day not to kill each other. I will say it is a far cheaper alternative to civil war but ultimately not sustainable.
I stand by what I said yesterday about Bush’s America picking our moral causes by what benefits America. If crazy dictators with veiled WMDs is the standard for liberation then why are we not invading north Korea right now. Kim has a few WMDs already, not just a whispered CIA lie. His people are starving and he is a brutal maniac. Genocide in Darfur might be moral reason for liberation. Please, it is oil and money for defense contractors that we find so more moral about invading Iraq.
The free market has been given carte blanch by Bush and now the pigs at the trough have bankrupted our country. The mortgage companies, Fannie and Freddie, Bears Stern collapse and more is what we can look forward to with non-controlled free market. Everyone was getting theirs and no one was watching while it all imploded.
By Ray
August 19, 2008 2:34 PM | Link to this
Recession? Who freakin’ cares. The last eight years have been the sweetest get rich scheme in the history of this great country.
If you ain’t rollin’ in the dough right now then you ain’t worth crap anyway.
Losers.
By getalife "whiners"
August 19, 2008 2:42 PM | Link to this
Obama hacks like Jack, KO, progressives, etc.. tossed a sure winner and rolled the dice on a sure loser.
Never listen to these fools.
They should go away.
By ghost rider
August 19, 2008 2:46 PM | Link to this
By ron
August 19, 2008 2:27 PM | Link to this
RON…Yo Ron!
And what precisely am I to be afraid of?
Taking a spin down memory lane when Clinton was president?
When there was a budget surplus, when there was no war, when people had jobs, when the stock market was at an all time high?
Yea, I don’t want to go there again…In your dreams!
I’m very afraid .. Only that the idiots in this country will elect Bush III
By Peter
August 19, 2008 2:48 PM | Link to this
Gotta love these comment……………
“By Ray
August 19, 2008 2:34 PM | Link to this
Recession? Who freakin’ cares. The last eight years have been the sweetest get rich scheme in the history of this great country.
If you ain’t rollin’ in the dough right now then you ain’t worth crap anyway.
Losers.”
A true Republican Right winger….. all about ME attitude…….typical………
Screw America, and who cares about MY FELLOW Americans ? NOT ME I am Fine !…………. More “Family Values” ……..
Gee you sound just like Bush and Cheney !
By Ray
August 19, 2008 2:54 PM | Link to this
‘shallow like Bush’???
Bush is a genius - the way he used our military as free labor for private enterprise was brilliant.
Also brilliant was his duping of the Christian right…and the way he got all that redneck trash to think he was one of them, getting them to vote against their best interests (BTW, redneck trash - how’s that promised land now?)…
No, Bush ain’t shallow. No doubt he’s reserved himself a seat next to Hitler - but he ain’t shallow.
By Poste Haste
August 19, 2008 3:03 PM | Link to this
Hitler was shallow. He had nothing except the greatest delivery in the history of politics.
Other than that he was a schmutz. Read “Hitler’s Table Talk”, a diary written by Hitler’s hired assistant who wrote every dinner conversation down. Hitler was a schmoe, man.
Evil is very very mediocre and ordinary.
Didn’t you know that?
I am Osama’s hooker’s gynocologist. And I will put anthrax in your douche bags!!!
See? Ordinary people making ordinary evil.
moron, stfu.
By T
August 19, 2008 3:05 PM | Link to this
By Ray
August 19, 2008 2:54 PM | Link to this
‘shallow like Bush’???
Bush is a genius - the way he used our military as free labor for private enterprise was brilliant.
Also brilliant was his duping of the Christian right…and the way he got all that redneck trash to think he was one of them, getting them to vote against their best interests (BTW, redneck trash - how’s that promised land now?)…
No, Bush ain’t shallow. No doubt he’s reserved himself a seat next to Hitler - but he ain’t shallow.
Unfortunate disgustingly true statements Must we follow in the same path? Perhaps this is the reason so many people get a charge from hearing the word, CHANGE?
By Jon
August 19, 2008 3:12 PM | Link to this
BFKaJ: Bidding on contracts? Unheard of, ask Haliburton or Blackhawk. Get over yourselves neo-cons. I swear you guys are so short sighted and ignorant. You sound like Sonny Perdue.
By ghost rider
August 19, 2008 3:14 PM | Link to this
Last night a fund raiser was held for John McCain here in Atlanta…$1.75 million dollars was the take!
Who orgainized and set up this fund raiser? None other then the disgraced RALPH REED!
Read here for all details….
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/dnc-mccain-watch-mccain-takes/story.aspx?guid=%7BE94A2AFC-F2BE-4A19-A6C9-3C528A32F267%7D&dist=hppr
By Poste Haste
August 19, 2008 3:20 PM | Link to this
I thought Hal was shallow.
By Devastator
August 19, 2008 3:23 PM | Link to this
This weekend, August 23rd - 24th, the Georgia Campaign for Change is hosting Family and Friends Canvasses across the state.
We’re asking supporters to bring friends and family of all ages to talk to people in their communities about the issues that are affecting them the most.
From health care to gas prices, to jobs and the economy, strengthening middle class families will require changing the way Washington works.
That’s why, with less than 80 days until Election Day, now is the time to talk to people in your community about Barack’s message of change.
Our movement is growing across Georgia, and this weekend’s Family and Friends Canvasses are a great opportunity to keep our momentum going.
Join a Family and Friends Canvass this weekend in your area and grow our movement.
Georgia is a crucial state in this campaign’s election strategy, and we have a real chance to succeed here. But it’s going to require you to turn your enthusiasm into action.
Face-to-face contact with undecided voters is the best way to grow our movement and spread our message.
That’s why this weekend friends and families are meeting up, talking about the issues that are affecting Georgia’s families, and going door-to-door to talk to other families about Barack Obama and our Campaign for Change.
No political experience is required to get involved. Campaign for Change staff will provide you with all the resources you need to succeed.
Bring your friends and family to a canvass and meet other families in your community that support Barack Obama. Find your local office and join a canvass this weekend:
http://ga.barackobama.com/GAcanvass
Bringing change to the Peach State will require all of us working together. We can’t do this without you.
Thanks,
Alex
Alex Lofton Georgia Field Director Campaign for Change
By ga_tech_92
August 19, 2008 3:26 PM | Link to this
If you actually watched the entire conversation, you would know that McCain did not pander to the rich. His statement was that he didn’t want to raise taxes on anyone, so he said a number that basically means “no one”. You would have have a little common sense and a LOT less hate to get the point he was making, I guess.
Props to Jim for allowing public feedback on his writing. CYNTHIA TUCKER, not so much. If you believe in what you write, then open it up for discussion CYNTHIA TUCKER. It’s cowardly not to, these days.
By Ga Values
August 19, 2008 3:32 PM | Link to this
slap happy —Switzerland is very expensive because they do not have illegal immigrants, have very good civil services, very good health services, no crime & VERY high taxes. Only the top 10% or so Americans can afford to live there. When my daughter was a high school senior the Euro was in the $1.25 range, when she was a junior in college it was up to $1.50, in february when her mother stayed with her it was $1.60, yesterday it was $1.46. The Swiss use the frank not the euro but the euro is a better indicator of the USA VS Europe.
By GDOLsucks
August 19, 2008 3:37 PM | Link to this
Speaking of corrupt government agencies look at the ga dept of labor. It is using a government agency to economically empower minorites. But look at whose in charge?
By You should too
August 19, 2008 3:44 PM | Link to this
I’m voting for the candidate not being endorsed by the worst president in American history. You should too.
By TaxpayerExpense
August 19, 2008 3:44 PM | Link to this
Speaking of corrupt government agencies look at the ga dept of labor. It is using a government agency to economically empower minorites. But look at whose in charge? We must change the leadership!!
By Poste Haste
August 19, 2008 3:46 PM | Link to this
Alex Lofton, the camaigns have been hiring for a while. What the job entails is being dropped off alone in a subdivision and canvasing house to house like Jehovah’s Witnesses pretending to be girl scouts selling cookies and knocking on doors and confronting irate homeowners.
Well let me tell you something, mister. I hate girl scouts and their stupid cookies. And you can take your Dosidos and shove them!
I wouldn’t mind writing speeches for Obama though. Need a quill?
By ga_tech_92
August 19, 2008 3:46 PM | Link to this
Does anyone know the percentage of ethnicity’s inside the city of Atlanta compared with the disproportionate percentages of same ethnicity’s in government jobs? I’ve heard there are about 50% African American living inside ATL, but 90-95% of all goverment jobs are held by the same. A hugely disproportionate (some would say racist) percentage, based on population. Does anyone know accurate numbers? I hate to assume. I’m sure I’m wrong, because ATL is too busy to be racist or hate.
Also, if some citizens are called African American, what should I call myself as a mix of many Europeans and American Indians? Are African American’s really more African than I am European? Why would it be odd for me to call myself a European American, instead of just an American? If it would be odd for me to do that, why isnt’ it also odd for African American’s to do it? What other something-American’s are there and what is the theory behind not being just an American, in America of all places?
By ghost rider
August 19, 2008 3:51 PM | Link to this
By gatech92
August 19, 2008 3:26 PM | Link to this
Gatech92
Kinda like “READ MY LIPS?”
By ButtHead
August 19, 2008 3:58 PM | Link to this
You liberals have ALL the answers, and you have set a new record. The 110th Congress, whose term officially ends in January, hasn’t passed any spending bills or attacked high gasoline prices. But it has used its powers to celebrate watermelons and to decree the origins of the word “baseball.” In two decades of record keeping, no sitting Congress has passed fewer public laws at this point in the session — 294 so far — than this one. Way to go liberals, now that you have control you are making the republicans look good…..
By ga_tech_92
August 19, 2008 3:59 PM | Link to this
If you mean “no new taxes”, then I guess so. The goal should be to not raise them. Granted, raising taxes or not raising taxes isn’t up to one person. I do like someone to have the goal of not raising them. Don’t you, or do you think we need more taxes for the government to waste?
By Poste Haste
August 19, 2008 3:59 PM | Link to this
Good point about african americans. They should be called americans. we should stop the census’s demographic delineations too.
We shouldn’t keep track of the observation that whites will be a minority. Just where is that conversation going? “Yeah, then we’ll be the n-words, yeah, or then we’ll be the illegal immigrant losers, yeah, datz right hanz, yah, then we’ll be the pathetic losers…..”
WTF?
It’s the part of life I dont get at all. I dont care who’s black, so I have a hard time understanding why anyone else would. It’s one of the reasons I’m such a rebel.
By SaveOurRepublic
August 19, 2008 4:01 PM | Link to this
Ray @ 2:54 PM - You some valid points, ol’ “SkullnBonesman” Bush did indeed dupe the conservative base (twice). He (like McAmnasty is doing now) masqueraded as a “conservative” and proved himself a true Globalist pawn. However, Bacrock Obummer is the flip-side of the same Globalist Elite controlled coin. Neither of the sellouts has any business in the White House!
By ga_tech_92
August 19, 2008 4:06 PM | Link to this
Patriots are rebels in someone’s eyes.
By T
August 19, 2008 4:10 PM | Link to this
Where do military paychecks come from? Where does the money for injured veterans come from? Where does the money that goes to survivor benifits for military families come from? Where does the money for the Montgomery GI bill come from? Where does the money come from to fund wars? Where does the money for the police dept. come from? Where does the money for the fire dept. come from? Where will the money for the increase in benifits for military personnel come from? How do roads get repaired?
Is that something else that is made in China?
By professional skeptic
August 19, 2008 4:11 PM | Link to this
BFKaJ,
My writing suggests no such thing. I have worked my whole career in the private sector— in many cases scrutinizing financial data of public companies line item by line item with a fine-toothed comb, searching for ways to improve internal controls or to cut costs. So, if it pleases you, BFKaJ, I’ll continue my earlier line of reasoning.
A private company provides goods or services to the public only to the extent that doing so generates profit for its investors. No private for-profit company stays in business long by failing to provide its owners a return on their investment.
Many taxpayers are concerned about privatization of government services, because we fear that in the never-ending quest for improved profits, a private company will either reduce the quality of the services or increase fees. One or the other must happen in order to satisfy investors’ hunger for a steady profit margin.
Rather than take a flailing, blind jump onto the privatization bandwagon, we should focus on elimination of wasteful government spending and improvement of internal controls. All governmental departments providing services should be subject to rigorous audits of operations, financial statements and internal controls. If we eliminate fraud and waste, then we’ll have absolutely no need to turn over our services to companies in the private sector.
After all, taxpayers should be paying ONLY for the cost of the essential services, NOT for someone else’s thick slab of profit tacked on top of the cost of the services.
By ga_tech_92
August 19, 2008 4:13 PM | Link to this
Bush did not represent himself as a true conservative. Tis a true enough point…and the reason so many Republicans were voted out recently.
By Ray
August 19, 2008 4:16 PM | Link to this
And what about the masterful Judo flip he executed on us, skillfully using the momentum of the 90% approval rating to slam us falt on our back in Iraq before we knew what hit us - actually convincing over half this country that Iraq had something to do with Al Qaude. And then, by the time we figured it out it was too late - genius.
And then he told everyone who doubted him that they ‘didn’t support the troops’. Again - genius move.
And now, with the country teetering on disaster, he’s gonna retire, move to the island he’s no doubt bought, and tell the consumers of his snake oil to kiss his backside? Precision timing - genius, genius, genius.
I’m not saying he’s not the biggest richard we’ve ever produced - he’s just not shallow.
By ga_tech_92
August 19, 2008 4:23 PM | Link to this
Ray, you make good arguments to suggest Bush is a genius. I thought it was the popular position for the Left to call Bush an idiot? Which is it? I’m sure you’ll have it both ways. Enthrall me :)
By jb
August 19, 2008 4:48 PM | Link to this
Wait til Sonny pushes thru his GAIT 2010 project to outsource all IT and Telcom services from GTA to his Corporate campaign backers to the tune of 1.5 Billion.You think the State is broke now wait 5 years.
By jb
August 19, 2008 4:53 PM | Link to this
Wait til Sonny pushes thru his GAIT 2010 project to outsource all IT and Telcom services from GTA to his Corporate campaign backers to the tune of 1.5 Billion.You think the State is broke now wait 5 years.
By Tom
August 19, 2008 5:01 PM | Link to this
Professional Skeptic: How dare you attempt to let your reasoned arguments deflect attention from jbmlaw/BFKaJ’s mindless slogans?
By getalife "whiners"
August 19, 2008 6:20 PM | Link to this
“I’m leaning towards voting for the presidential candidate not endorsed by the worst president in American history.”
By BFKaJ
August 19, 2008 6:57 PM | Link to this
So many moonbats, so little time. Apologies to Peter for leaving you hanging on my tease. Answer: in the history of the FDIC era, the US never went a single calendar year without a bank failure until 2005, and then did it again in 2006. The period I cited was the longest in the history of the US without a bank failure. Note it ended when the leftists took control of Congress again. (Which makes as much sense as the silly rant that motivated my tease.)
Dear Skeptic @ 4:11, “Many taxpayers are concerned about privatization of government services, because we fear that in the never-ending quest for improved profits, a private company will either reduce the quality of the services or increase fees.” You confuse “taxpayers” and “leeches” - taxpayers are people smart enough to know you change servers when the service is bad. That seeming lack of familiarity with normal contractual relationships is the reason I doubt that you have ever produced anything for a paying customer.
By SaveOurRepublic
August 19, 2008 7:22 PM | Link to this
Ray @ 4:16 PM EDT - Accurate analysis sir. The hoodwinked “Left” loves tagging Skull&Bones Bush with the “idiot” label, but the man successfully implemented the Globalist Elite’s agenda (just as planned). From the 9/11 false-flag (*as clearly foreshadowed by PNAC’s “Rebuilding America’s Defenses” publication nearly a year before 9/11), Jorge Boosh & the Neocons launched the Globalist’s Empire building scheme to slice up Iraq, establish a permanent (co-opt’d) U.S. military presence, suppress the oil supply (to drive up Big Oil prices & pain @ the pump for the Middle Class) & award their allies with no-bid contracts. Meanwhile, you still have Americans (on the “right” & “left”) who think he’s a conservative! Yessir…just like his Dad & Grandfather before him, fellow Bonesman Bush was very successful at serving his Elite ma$ters…just as fellow puppets “Bacrock Obummer” or “Juan McAmnesty” be/do. Make no mistake, there’s not a true dime’s worth of difference between those two shills of the Elite!
http://www.baldwin2008.com
By Just Nasty and Mean
August 19, 2008 9:13 PM | Link to this
Alex/Devastator
Do us all a favor and keep your friggin billboards and campaign directives to yourself.
This is a conversational blog with suggested topics from the AJC writer. It is not your personal advertising space to promote your tripe.
It is also NOT a campaign organization tool!
Go sell your pots and pans somewhere else.
By Peter
August 19, 2008 10:04 PM | Link to this
By BFKaJ
August 19, 2008 6:57 PM | Link to this
So many moonbats, so little time. Apologies to Peter for leaving you hanging on my tease. Answer: in the history of the FDIC era, the US never went a single calendar year without a bank failure until 2005, and then did it again in 2006. The period I cited was the longest in the history of the US without a bank failure. Note it ended when the leftists took control of Congress again. (Which makes as much sense as the silly rant that motivated my tease.)
HA HA HA…….moonbats …………… with all respect……….. the policies Bush delivered, has made a joke of us all………..
There will be no one that will not suffer………
Funny the world is looking for the “anti Christ”……….as ……the current leadership in Bush is the lead figure in the down fall of America……….. no different then what we read about ancient Greece……..
You are the part in the play……..lemming…………. that goes along with the story !
By Steve
August 19, 2008 10:19 PM | Link to this
Jim would rather have contractors lobbying and getting money from the government instead of government employees. Are government contractors any better than government employees. Oh! I forgot those contractors usually vote Republican perhaps that is the reason he perfers contractors.
By Chris
August 19, 2008 10:42 PM | Link to this
How about we just change the personnel policies at the various agencies and start offering better incentives to govt employees. And why not start demanding long term solutions??? So long as we elected the short-sighted the more long term problems we will have!
By Thoughtful
August 19, 2008 11:38 PM | Link to this
There is an assumption in this country that the private sector will always do a better job than the public sector.
Show me the data that proves the assumption. And please don’t give me rhetoric, like Wooten does. I’m not assuming the assumption is incorrect or correct.
Just show me the proof first. Because in my experience with the education field, I have seen the opposite.
By argyle
August 19, 2008 11:39 PM | Link to this
paying more for deadbeats. why didn’t I think of that?
because i’m a conservative who can think. not a liberal who lays waste.
By Dr. Craig Spinks
August 20, 2008 3:00 AM | Link to this
Mr. Simms, Mike Kenn’s former aide, is part of the problem, not the solution. That “essentially, no one can be fired” is wrong. Government employees can be fired if bureaucrats and their attorneys have “the fire in the belly” and the expertise needed to do it. Obviously, Mr. Simms doesn’t have the former, anyway.
By Poste Haste
August 20, 2008 5:53 AM | Link to this
There is no proof that George W Bush was on this planet while he served in the Guard.
I fear the power that accomplished that.
Obama 08: At least we know where he was.
By bearcasey
August 20, 2008 6:19 AM | Link to this
Jim… why not privatize justice… think “robocop.” Fulton detective T.E. Jackson couldn’t detect his a$$ using both hands. On the other hand, Comcast is incredibly inept.
By professional skeptic
August 20, 2008 9:41 AM | Link to this
Your choice to make insults and baseless assumptions — rather than to engage in meaningful discourse when others voice opinions that differ from your own — speaks volumes about your character. I bid good day to you.
By professional skeptic
August 20, 2008 9:43 AM | Link to this
BFKaJ:
Your choice to make insults and baseless assumptions — rather than to engage in meaningful discourse when others voice opinions that differ from your own — speaks volumes about your character. I bid good day to you.
(Apologies for the double post, I simply wanted to clarify to whom this was directed).
By Wooten is really a Democrat
August 21, 2008 8:54 PM | Link to this
My dad was a union worker at the ford plant for 28 years. He was able to get 75 % of his salary after the plant closed for two years, then get full retirement.
When the plant closed, Ford and the United Auto Workers were able to offer generous retirement and severance packages, with some workers receiving a severance bonus of up to 100k. Some also received educational bonus to pay to start new career.
Simply put, the Union contract guaranteed these workers that they would not be thrown out to the street with little or no severance or benefits. My dad receives a nice retirement now from Ford, courtesy of the Union, and he got a sizeable bonus. He was able to use that bonus and pay off some debt, and now is living more debt free than ever.
I work for the government and if I was laid off, do you think Sonny sorry Perdue would give a crap, no they would give me my final paycheck and say “sorry” but times are hard. State government workers are prevented from a union contract.
Union YES!
By NH
August 22, 2008 7:53 AM | Link to this
Mr. Wooten should be happy. The governor’s office and the legislature has been turned over to private interests. The result — essential services cut to insure that our tax money keeps flowing to those private interests.
By hfumkwt jyarhexkg
November 13, 2008 7:27 AM | Link to this
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By hfumkwt jyarhexkg
November 13, 2008 7:29 AM | Link to this
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By hfumkwt jyarhexkg
November 13, 2008 7:29 AM | Link to this
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By hfumkwt jyarhexkg
November 13, 2008 7:30 AM | Link to this
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