AAR

[Mark]

Hightower pulls aside another curtain. This is an excellent example of how some people argue about private enterprise vs. government:
http://www.hightowerlowdown.org/node/2927
This article is about the U.S. Post Office, but very much the same pattern has been playing out for years in arguments about Social Security, Medicare and other health care, education, and more. Too many politicians IN government don't approve of government, so they lie, rig the game, tilt the playing field, and commit outright sabotage to force government enterprises to fail.

[KarenS]

I believe the time has come for our government to begin nationalizing private companies who provide for the well-being of the nation. Certain companies that fall into this category are election companies, oil companies and power utilities to name a few. To have honest elections we need to make certain the voting machines don't have codes written into them to throw off elections. As long as we are on an oil based economy, for the greater good, we may need to make certain profits are not made by these corporations at the general public's expense. The same with electrical and gas companies as well.

[maryskl]

I am having a difficult time understanding how republicans are against the health insurance mandates of Obamacare by stating it is unconstitutional to force people to buy private insurance. But they are also in favor of privatizing medicare which would...force seniors to buy private health insurance. Since both accomplish their goal of getting more money to the big health insurance companies, why all of the screaming against Obamacare, especially since the republicans came up with the idea in the first place? I remain in favor of a single payer system where the profit incentive is taken out of health care.

[Mark]

I'm afraid any attempt to nationalize anything these days will just provoke more political sabotage. I think the health care mess is another classic example. Health care should be a single national system with no profit-takers, yet attempts to "reform" just keep adding layers of profiteers.

[dick]

Probably a number of these problems would disappear were we to change the way we elect people to government positions, limit the length of of them, and pay for them. And perhaps we should attempt to impeach the members of the Supreme Court who allowed that corporations are persons.

[KarenS]

There is nothing wrong with capitalism except for capitalism run amok which is where we are now. Do we try to make life good for everyone or only for the 1%? The 1% have theirs, how much more do they need? Is it imperative to beat out the guy who is ahead of them on Forbes List? I think for most of us 99ers we simply are happy with the concept of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If I can have a decent middle class job, be able to pay my bills, have enough left over at the end of the month for savings then I am a happy camper.

Most middle classers are happy with this. Why can't our corporate masters treat us with respect and dignity? Don't screw up but pay us a decent wage. Don't pay consultants millions of dollars to show you how to screw us your employees, don't deny us health and dental insurance, don't demand higher rates of productivity without sharing the extra profits.

Is that so much to ask?

[Mark]

Hightower pulls aside another curtain (or maybe turns over another rock):
http://www.hightowerlowdown.org/node/2951
I knew how much of the Iraq & Afghanistan wars was unwisely farmed out to private contractors, but I hadn't realized how much of that was also being done with spying.
Clearly too many people in power don't recall Machiavelli's warning about mercenaries:
"The mercenary captains are either capable men or they are not; if they are, you cannot trust them, because they always aspire to their own greatness, either by oppressing you, who are their master, or others contrary to your intentions; but if the captain is not skillful, you are ruined in the usual way."

[KarenS]

Megatrends by John Naisbitt published in 1982 stated that eventually governments wouldn't matter but corporations would have the higher power and more authority. Is this coming to pass?

Our federal government is not a business and should not be run for profit. It exists to take care of us the citizens. It annoys me when the conservatives thinks the government should represent a business model. Because a department or agency is not profitable, their excuse is to privatize it. Then the contract goes to a private vendor who makes a profit but it costs the government more. We see this in the private prison industry and it's what they are tying to do with the US Postal Service.