Private vs. Public sector jobs

Unh - yeah - you know that canard about the overpaid government worker? Maybe, like most Republican drivel, it's not true.

and if you include benefits?

Government vs. private sector

The conservative mantra is "less government, more private sector" because the private sector creates all of the jobs and polices itself so that we can trust them more.  Riiggghhhhttttt!


McDonald's Monopoly was FIXED from 1995 to 2000. $24MIL was embezzled by the company that organized and promoted the game

Think the "private sector" treats you better?

Republicans are always preaching how ineffective the government services are - they claim that the private sector does such a better job. The only thing the private sector does a better job of is screwing you over for a bigger share of profits.

More on the Republican platform...

Republicans often lament the inefficiencies of big government. Their position is that the private sector works much more efficiently than government can in providing services, and that market forces will clean out abuse in the private sector, whereas there is nothing that can clean out mismanagement from government.

A major problem with their argument, which seems to be logical on the surface - is that there really are no market-correcting forces in the short term, and it is arguable that there are no such market forces (without government intervention) in the long haul. There is only profit to motivate the private sector. A crook in the private sector could continue to scam the unwitting for decades if there were no laws or regulations which allow law enforcement agencies to pursue them, or courts in which to sue them.

To argue that the private sector is so good for us, and so moral and so well-intentioned is just plain stupid. One need look no further than the banking industry and their recent credit scams that nearly threw (and still might) our nation into a depression. Republicans, despite the near calamity, are still fighting in Washington to keep the Dems from passing regulations to stop such speculation.

Imagine if Medicare/Medicaid were in the hands of the private sector. How much abuse would there be? How many of the elderly would be denied coverage once their costs overran their payments? How many corrupt deals would be struck between hospitals and the insurance company, or how many doctors would be paid under the table? Just an example to prove the point ... I have drawn this from an e-newsletter that I receive called "AFT Retiree E-News," ... reports the following...

MANY MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLANS GUILTY OF MARKETING ABUSES
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services took compliance and enforcement actions against at least 73 Medicare Advantage plan sponsors between January 2006 and February 2009, charging them with marketing abuses, according to a Jan. 19 report from the Government Accountability Office. The companies’ actions included misrepresenting plan benefits, conducting door-to-door solicitations without an appointment, and providing meals or gifts to entice beneficiaries to enroll. As of March 2009, there were 192 organizations offering Medicare Advantage plans. At congressional hearings held in 2007 and 2008, state insurance officials and Medicare beneficiaries testified that marketing abuses led some beneficiaries to enroll in plans by mistake, and enroll in plans that didn't provide the coverage they needed. The House healthcare reform bill (H.R. 3962) would give states the right to punish marketing violations and expand the definition of such violations. The report said CMS was able to help beneficiaries leave plans that engaged in inappropriate marketing by offering special election periods that enabled them to change their plan outside of the regular open enrollment season. However, researchers also found that some beneficiaries experienced problems disenrolling from their plans, including lengthy delays in making the change.

And yet, why do Republicans try to ignore this evidence of the failure of the private sector to regulate itself? It's simple - they can make money off of these crooked firms by investing in them. They can't make any money from the government unless they can channel those tax dollars into private firms, which can falsify their records to steal even more tax dollars - thus making Republicans rich.

At least that's my take on it.

Which party promotes private sector job growth the best?

From Acerbic Politics

Where Should Our Allegiance Lie?

I marvel daily at the stupidity of Republicans who proclaim in loud, cocksure voices that the salvation of the country lies in the hands of the private sector. They bark, as though they and they alone know the truth, that government screws everything up and that only the robber barons of the privately and publicly owned companies know what is best for us poor middle-class folk. They taunt and mock those liberals who believe that we have a better chance of living a good life if our government takes a strong hand in the economy. And then I read this, from the Guardian, and I know, with great certainty, that we liberals are right.

Dean Herreid's lungs are gradually being destroyed. When he coughs, as he frequently does, his long, wheezing splutter sounds so painful it makes you wince. Herreid lives in Libby, a tiny Rocky Mountain town in Montana that is isolated, beautiful and toxic. Scores of men in this rough-edged, blue collar town have been killed off, poisoned with deadly asbestos from the local mine.
.....
Horrifying stories are emerging at a criminal trial where the corporate giant WR Grace, which owned the mine, is accused of knowingly allowing not only its miners but the entire town to breathe deadly asbestos dust. The US government calls it "the worst case of industrial poisoning of a whole community in American history".

The truth about big business and the private sector is that profit triumphs over all costs. If their need to make money ruins the health of their workers, or even if it costs lives, it is worth protecting the "company." Reflect not only on what I've posted here today as evidence of my point, but also the tainted peanut products scandal of the past few months. The Republican creed is simple - money and wealth over all else.

via Carolina Naturally

There's a Fox In The Henhouse

Conservatives are known for their belief in the ability of the private sector to outperform the public sector (government) in virtually every regard. I personally don't buy it - there are faults to be found at every level and usually the electorate at least has some control over the public sector, whereas the private sector is out of our reach.

It is for this reason that I believe that government oversight of the private sector is very important to the safety and welfare of all of us. Sometimes, when private sector flunkies are moved into the oversight positions, not much control goes on and then things sort of fall apart.

From the New York Times...

A North Dakota manufacturer has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a suit saying it had repeatedly shortchanged the armor in up to 2.2 million helmets for the military, including those for the first troops sent to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Twelve days before the settlement with the Justice Department was announced, the company, Sioux Manufacturing of Fort Totten, was given a new contract of up to $74 million to make more armor for helmets to replace the old ones, which were made from the late 1980s to last year.