Fw: Fwd: Fw: Applying Navy Training to some of our major government programs...

Curator's note: This FWD: is a variation on this August 29 entry.


Subject: Fw: Fwd: Fw: Applying Navy Training to some of our major government programs...


One of the things I learned in the Navy is that when a program doesn't work like you thought it would or should, at least do not keep doing the same thing over and over and expect the result to be any different. You need to stop what you're doing, look at the systemics, and change the systemics if you want the end result to change. So with that Navy lesson in mind, I'm forwarding the following history lesson that in my opinion indicates our government could use some "Navy training".
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Subject: History Lesson

The U.S. Post Service was established in 1775 - they've had 234 years to get it right; it is broke, and even though heavily subsidized, it can't compete with private sector FedExp and UPS services.

Social Security was established in 1935 - they've had 74 years to get it right; it is broke.

Fannie Mae was established in 1938 - they've had 71 years to get it right; it is broke. Freddie Mac was established in 1970 - they've had 39 years to get it right; it is broke. Together Fannie and Freddie have now led the entire world into the worst economic collapse in 80 years.

The War on Poverty was started in 1964 - they've had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our hard earned money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor"; it hasn't worked.

Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965 - they've had 44 years to get it right; they are both broke; and now our government dares to mention them as models for all US health care.

AMTRAK was established in 1970 - they've had 39 years to get it right; last year they bailed it out as it continues to run at a loss!

This year, a trillion dollars was committed in the massive political payoff called the Stimulus Bill of 2009; it shows NO sign of working; it's been used to increase the size of governments across America, and raise government salaries while the rest of us suffer from economic hardships. It has yet to create a single new private sector job. Our national debt projections (approaching $10 trillion) have increased 400% in the last six months.

"Cash for Clunkers" was established in 2009 and went broke in 2009 - - after 80% of the cars purchased turned out to be produced by foreign companies, and dealers nationwide are buried under bureaucratic paperwork demanded by a government that is not yet paying them what was promised.

So with a perfect 100% failure rate and a record that proves that each and every "service" shoved down our throats by an over-reaching government turns into disaster, how could any informed American trust our government to run or even set policies for America's health care system - - 17% of our economy?

Maybe each of us has a personal responsibility to let others in on this brilliant record before 2010, and then help remove from office those who are voting to destroy capitalism and destroy our grandchildren's future.

11 comments:

Bigby said...

I guess they didn't want to add schools to the list for fear of scaring people. lol

Or the military. Now there's something that's really fucking broken. heh

Marc with a C said...

Yeah, because the military doesn't spend billions of dollars on weapons systems that barely work while letting crippled vets go without their pensions.

gruaud said...

Destroy capitalism? Ridiculous. The corporations run this country and have been doing so for generations. Barring a catastrophic breakdown, the US will always be capitalistic.

I'll tell what WILL destroy our grandchildren's future, though:

Capitalism that is unregulated and, therefore, predatory. There is no beast on Earth that is as rapacious.

Lambo said...

Hmmm. For some reason, they also left out the "war on drugs".

Anonymous said...

As someone else said in another post, most of these programs are not "broke" at all, especially Medicare and Medicaid. The fact that so many people seem to accept that they are broke so easily is a testament to the success of the right wing myth machine and its effect on the American psyche.

As for the Post Office, given its constraints and mandate, I'd say is does a damn good job. You think FedEx or UPS could deliver billions of pieces of mail every year, in a timely manner, to every corner and backwater of this nation all while charging so little per piece? Good luck.

I also love the line about the deficit projections increasing 400% this year, which happened since Obama is honest enough to actually count everything in his budget. These people seem to think that if we don't acknowledge a problem then it doesn't really exist.

katz said...

Rule of thumb: anyone who thinks "it is broke" is correct grammar probably doesn't have a worthwhile opinion.

Anonymous said...

Ironically but unsurprisingly, it is NOT Democrats/leftists, eg so-called "socialists" or "communists", who "destroying capitalism and our grandchildren's future."

These a screeds written by Big Ins to convince the brainwashed contards (as if they need any more "convincing") that: affordable health care for all is very, very bad. Which it isn't.

What the Dems (those really trying) are attempting to do w/the gov't option is to actually CREATE some REAL competition in the health ins market - listen up sheeples: this is a BASIC tenent of, ya guessed it: capitalism.

What we have now w/Big Ins & Big Pharma are not exactly monopolies but oligarchies of businesses who fix prices to enrich themselves. I realize that contards avoid facts like the plague, but just look at the number of lobbyists both groups have, plus look at the take-home-pay of Big Ins/Pharma CEOs and their cronies - at least $11 million annually, plus various stock options, bonuses, etc.

A gov't option will create real competition forcing these greedy pigs, oh boo hoo hoo hoo hoo, to take home less money. Do I feel sorry for them? NO.

Plus if this Health Care leg can go thru, it is LIKELY to lead to other legal restraints, which will more or less negatively impact the fat cats. Will "average folks" also take a hit? Possibly, but it's unlikely to be worse than what it is right now (and what it's headed towards).

Folks who read this kind of RWF crap and are actually convinced are brainwashed rubes who listen to fatso limpdick all day long and/or watch Faux Nutwork. They lap up this stuff bc they have been brainwashed to do so.

And finally, social security and medicare would do just fine far into the future IF they simply raised the wage level cut off for deductions of ssi & medicare. Right now, the brunt of the burden of ssi & medicare is born by the middle class (what else is new) bc the wage cut for deductions is quite low (currently for ssi it stops being deducted somewhere in the very low $100K range; not sure re medicare).

IF they raised the deduction limit to, say, $750k (or even lower than that), there will be NO problem w/ssi & medicare solvency for the foreseeable future.

But, geez: ain't THAT socialism-Nazi-communism-gay-abortion-no-birth-certificate land?? What? Expecting the obscenely wealthy to pay their FAIR SHARE? Ya must be joking!!!! Lush Rimjob said that was sin, and he's always RIGHT!

joshua said...

Have these idiots ever compared the price of mailing something through USPS versus UPS or Fedex? I am not speaking about a regular old package. In my experience it is twice as expensive. Letters are way more than twice as expensive. Do these guys really want to pay double or more for their mailings?

Not to mention the USPS is NOT heavily subsidized, it is a quasi-independent agency which does not receive money from Congress. It is in the red, as many companies are nowadays, especially ones that rely heavily on fuel.

Of course, it could be said that the fact that the USPS also has a legal obligation to provide mail to every citizen of the United States gives it a cost burden that FedEx or UPS do not have.

Anonymous said...

This weekend *8/29 & 30)I traveled in my region and read several local newspapers (that I don't usually read), plus the NYT on 8/29 & 8/31. All newspapers were FULL of stories about how the stim $$ was about to come thru bc it took until NOW for the project plans to be completed adequately to meet the regulations and restrictions of how the $$ would be spent (like: DUH, the gov't didn't just hand out money with no plans in place). All areas were really looking forward to the new projects that could be completed, plus the jobs that would be created.

More LIES and preposterous b.s. from Big Ins/Pharma to dullards who don't know their @$$ from a hole in the ground. The stim bill is working just fine and will do our country and our citizens a lot of good.

PLUS many banks are starting to pay back TARP funds PLUS INTEREST, and the same newspapers are full of articles about how well this program worked, esp in re to keeping banks from failing and sending our nation & the world into a deep depression.

ReTHUGlicans: the party of corporate overlords saying NO to everything. Don't get fooled! They LIE outrageously and will continue to do so.

Anonymous said...

Hey Anonymous, I don't know what they are talking about, I can think of four ARRA projects going on around my house. In at least 2 of them they were projects which were planned for many years but put on the backburner.

Now, I don't think road construction work is the best use of this money. But the idea that the ARRA money is not being spent is simply wrong.

TARP was a giant rip off I disagree with and always will disagree with, even if we end up coming out ahead. That said, if Republicans don't like it, what is there to say, it was a Paulson plan and the Bush Administration spent around half of TARP money before they left office.

Anonymous said...

There are many problems w/TARP, and I had issues w/it, too. I agree, tho, that it was mainly created by the Bush Admin, and it was Bush who removed most of the constraints & regs put in by Democrats, which ended up w/W's CEO cronies awarding themselves giant bonuses made up of taxpayer dollars.

It's my understanding that BHO's admin has tightened that up again.

I have misgivings about these programs, too, but that said, I think bailing out the banks - even tho something of a devil's bargain - was necessary. And now some of that money is coming back w/interest.

But if contards hate TARP, then go whine at Dickhead Cheney about it. He is putting himself out in the spotlight and seems to want to style himself as the neocon spokesmodel. Complain to him, please, bc he's responsible for TARP as well as for illegal torture (amongst many other sins).

 
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