Roads- around here they stay in a constant state of disrepair. Do a google search for bridge collapses and road failures. There are many, many more at risk all across this country. I don't know about your state, but my state collects millions and millions for road repair. What is happening to that money?
schools- my sister pays $4000 per kid to send hers to private school because the public schools near her are so wretched. The state spends twice that per student and still can't get it right. These private school kids are performing well above grade level (my niece, who is 6, rattled off all the states alphabetically to me one day!). If private school can do it better for half as much, what is the gov't doing with all the education money? It's not trickling down to the teachers, that's for sure!
parks (local, state, national)- Many parks around here are closing because the gov't can't afford to run them. What happens when the gov't can't afford to run the hospital near you because they have run it into the ground?
migratory birds- Okay, okay, the gov't can have the migratory birds. I'm pretty sure the birds aren't listening to them anyway.
managing fishing and hunting- I don't really know because I don't hunt or fish. I do know that for generations people have hunted and fished to feed themselves and thier families. Why do they have to pay the gov't for permission now?
IRS- This may be the gov'ts greatest screw up of all. This country was founded because of unfair tax laws. We are now facing much worse than what was originally protested! This bureaucratic nightmare alone costs us BILLIONS! If we disbanded the IRS we could instantly lower the deficit by great chunks of money!
immigration- And they've screwed this one up as well. Scores of people are illegally entering and popping out babies. Those babies are guaranteed free EVERYTHING for life because illegal mama was sneaky enough to pop it out on American soil. We make it easy peasy for illegals to live here ILLEGALLY. We are perhaps the only country on earth more concern about illegal alien rights than citizen rights. Would I get to same treatment if I were to illegally enter any other country on the planet? Nope. Our federal policy on immigration is to ignore the problem.
food safety E Coli and salmonella contamination in prepared foods are on the rise. At the same time the gov't is making it harder for small farmers to direct market their produce to the local public. Hmmmm... I don't think they are helping me at all.
product safety (lead in products from China)- Gov't laws sent the bulk of our manufacturing from this country to others. They only hype the product safety when there is a problem. Perhaps a better idea is to make it more enticing to produce goods here? I'm seeing win/win on this one.
drug regulation- The FDA is so backlogged that scads of useful drugs take decades to reach the consumer. Oversight is limited and information is routinely just accepted from the manufacturer. The drug companies with the best lobbyists win while the people taking medicines and needing medicines often lose.
the post office- costs more and more each year with less and less efficiency. The post office wastes huge amounts of money each year. Why do they have a marketing/advertising account at all? We HAVE to use them to mail letters. Why are they sponsoring athletes and events? It is a gov't agency. That is a waste of taxpayer dollars. The private mail companies do a better job for less money. How many of you would ship eggs through the PO if there were any other way?
VA- completely screwed up. See previous post.
police & fire fighters- I'm going to lump these together because in many ways they are fighting the same fight. These public servants are very poorly paid and ofttimes have to buy their own safety equipment. I have the utmost respect for these workers as they are having to fight the battle on both sides. Their own administrations are unwieldy and their budgets get cut constantly. Much like teachers, money never trickles down to the people actually doing the work. Why ballplayers get millions and teachers and firemen get barely a living wage is beyond me.
range leasing (BLM)
clean water
mineral rights management
the military
law enforcement
laws themselves
medicare/medicade
border patrol
driver liscensing
research funding
NASA
UT, A&M, UCLA, The Air Force Academy, West Point, etc
Census Bureau
sex offender registries
Okay, I'm too tired to actually deal with the rest of them, but they are all the same. Do you see a trend? When the gov't gets its hands on something the bureaucracy goes up and the service goes down. It ALWAYS gets harder to deal with. The PO is the best example. I can send a package cheaper and faster through FedEx and generally can trust that it will get there with no damage. They are driven by customer service, because if they make me mad as a consumer, I will go elsewhere. UPS and DHL would LOVE to make me a happy customer. With the PO, they don't care. I can't go anywhere else and so their jobs are secure.
With my doctor, if he's a jerk or an idiot, I can go find a new doctor. He is there to serve my needs and he knows that I have a choice. What happens when I have no choice? Quality of care will go down. At the public hospital in town care is atrocious. Why? Most (or all) of the people that go there are indigent and have no choice. The staff knows this and generally doesn't give a flying rip. They don't pay their staff very well (compared to the for profit hospitals) and the really talented people work other places.
History has shown that when control shifts from private industry to the government that quality ALWAYS goes down. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I can't think of a darn thing that the federal government does better than private industry. Other than take my money...
schools- my sister pays $4000 per kid to send hers to private school because the public schools near her are so wretched. The state spends twice that per student and still can't get it right. These private school kids are performing well above grade level (my niece, who is 6, rattled off all the states alphabetically to me one day!). If private school can do it better for half as much, what is the gov't doing with all the education money? It's not trickling down to the teachers, that's for sure!
parks (local, state, national)- Many parks around here are closing because the gov't can't afford to run them. What happens when the gov't can't afford to run the hospital near you because they have run it into the ground?
migratory birds- Okay, okay, the gov't can have the migratory birds. I'm pretty sure the birds aren't listening to them anyway.
managing fishing and hunting- I don't really know because I don't hunt or fish. I do know that for generations people have hunted and fished to feed themselves and thier families. Why do they have to pay the gov't for permission now?
IRS- This may be the gov'ts greatest screw up of all. This country was founded because of unfair tax laws. We are now facing much worse than what was originally protested! This bureaucratic nightmare alone costs us BILLIONS! If we disbanded the IRS we could instantly lower the deficit by great chunks of money!
immigration- And they've screwed this one up as well. Scores of people are illegally entering and popping out babies. Those babies are guaranteed free EVERYTHING for life because illegal mama was sneaky enough to pop it out on American soil. We make it easy peasy for illegals to live here ILLEGALLY. We are perhaps the only country on earth more concern about illegal alien rights than citizen rights. Would I get to same treatment if I were to illegally enter any other country on the planet? Nope. Our federal policy on immigration is to ignore the problem.
food safety E Coli and salmonella contamination in prepared foods are on the rise. At the same time the gov't is making it harder for small farmers to direct market their produce to the local public. Hmmmm... I don't think they are helping me at all.
product safety (lead in products from China)- Gov't laws sent the bulk of our manufacturing from this country to others. They only hype the product safety when there is a problem. Perhaps a better idea is to make it more enticing to produce goods here? I'm seeing win/win on this one.
drug regulation- The FDA is so backlogged that scads of useful drugs take decades to reach the consumer. Oversight is limited and information is routinely just accepted from the manufacturer. The drug companies with the best lobbyists win while the people taking medicines and needing medicines often lose.
the post office- costs more and more each year with less and less efficiency. The post office wastes huge amounts of money each year. Why do they have a marketing/advertising account at all? We HAVE to use them to mail letters. Why are they sponsoring athletes and events? It is a gov't agency. That is a waste of taxpayer dollars. The private mail companies do a better job for less money. How many of you would ship eggs through the PO if there were any other way?
VA- completely screwed up. See previous post.
police & fire fighters- I'm going to lump these together because in many ways they are fighting the same fight. These public servants are very poorly paid and ofttimes have to buy their own safety equipment. I have the utmost respect for these workers as they are having to fight the battle on both sides. Their own administrations are unwieldy and their budgets get cut constantly. Much like teachers, money never trickles down to the people actually doing the work. Why ballplayers get millions and teachers and firemen get barely a living wage is beyond me.
range leasing (BLM)
clean water
mineral rights management
the military
law enforcement
laws themselves
medicare/medicade
border patrol
driver liscensing
research funding
NASA
UT, A&M, UCLA, The Air Force Academy, West Point, etc
Census Bureau
sex offender registries
Okay, I'm too tired to actually deal with the rest of them, but they are all the same. Do you see a trend? When the gov't gets its hands on something the bureaucracy goes up and the service goes down. It ALWAYS gets harder to deal with. The PO is the best example. I can send a package cheaper and faster through FedEx and generally can trust that it will get there with no damage. They are driven by customer service, because if they make me mad as a consumer, I will go elsewhere. UPS and DHL would LOVE to make me a happy customer. With the PO, they don't care. I can't go anywhere else and so their jobs are secure.
With my doctor, if he's a jerk or an idiot, I can go find a new doctor. He is there to serve my needs and he knows that I have a choice. What happens when I have no choice? Quality of care will go down. At the public hospital in town care is atrocious. Why? Most (or all) of the people that go there are indigent and have no choice. The staff knows this and generally doesn't give a flying rip. They don't pay their staff very well (compared to the for profit hospitals) and the really talented people work other places.
History has shown that when control shifts from private industry to the government that quality ALWAYS goes down. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I can't think of a darn thing that the federal government does better than private industry. Other than take my money...
