What will you like most about the McCain Presidency?

revel wrote:

Quote:

I think we would get a whole lot more bang for our buck if somebody else collected and spent it.

I personally think you are mixing apples and oranges, but, are you saying you think private companies should collect our bucks and spend it on our nations infrastructure? Companies like Haliburten perhaps who have wasted thousands of dollars and have accomplished squat with it in Iraq? There is no way to oversight private companies so they can do as they please any way they please as we have seen the example of it in Iraq being contracted out in private companies with fat cats getter richer and no bangs for our bucks at all, bad idea, foxfyre.

Again you seem to wish to read into a post much that isn't there.

I'm not saying there has not been abuse and graft among some government contractors both in Iraq and just about everywhere else. But I believe these are the exception rather than the rule. The occasional bad guy gets huge press to impress the likes of Revel who embraces any bad news she can find from Iraq etc., but you don't see press for the large majority of contractors and dedicated workers who are doing yeoman's work to help a people have a better life. And I suspect you don't believe those even exist. I know they do.

I am in favor of the government at all levels doing only that which cannot be done more efficiently and effectively by the private sector, and I am in favor of government being done at the lowest possible level where the people and those they elect can be held more accountable.

The Federal government has Constitutional mandates for certain responsibilities and I am all for carrying out those responsibilities effectively and honorably.

The Federal government does not and should not have responsibility or jurisdiction for a county road or bridge in New Mexico and it should not be confiscating your money to pay for one. Otherwise you have the federal government siphoning off a big chunk of your tax dollar to pay for the huge Federal bureaucracy, allocating the balance to the state that takes another cut to pay for the state bureaucracy, and then passing it on to local authorities to build the road or bridge. You can see that this requires a whole lot more of your money to accomplish something.

The Federal government is too big and it costs too much.

A budget filled with waste and the potential for a democratic congress will make it difficult for McCain. Obama will have a field day making matters worse.

I personally think you are mixing apples and oranges, but, are you saying you think private companies should collect our bucks and spend it on our nations infrastructure?

I think we would get a whole lot more bang for our buck if somebody else collected and spent it.

Private companies don't collect our bucks.

Quote:

So unless some private company decides to fix my country road in front of my house; I am just going to have live with the pot holes if you have your way. What if they (some nameless company) decide the cost of labor and paying employees will not turn them a profit fixing a road in the middle of no where and just let it fall apart? Tough out of luck?

And your post seems to say that you either cant or wont fix the road yourself.
Instead, you seem to want to rely on some unnamed person or entity to fix it for you.
Whats wrong with you and your neighbors pooling your resources and fixing it yourself?

revel wrote:

Quote:

So unless some private company decides to fix my country road in front of my house; I am just going to have live with the pot holes if you have your way. What if they (some nameless company) decide the cost of labor and paying employees will not turn them a profit fixing a road in the middle of no where and just let it fall apart? Tough out of luck?

And your post seems to say that you either cant or wont fix the road yourself.
Instead, you seem to want to rely on some unnamed person or entity to fix it for you.
Whats wrong with you and your neighbors pooling your resources and fixing it yourself?

More importantly, why is it important to her that it be the FEDERAL government who fixes it at three times the cost that it would take the local authorities to do so, or which Revel and her neighbors could fix for a buck or two?

Sttreets and roads are a valid responsibility of government, but the stret in front of Revel's house should be a local government concern. She should be able to call up the department and say hey, I've got a big pothole in the street out here. Please come fix it.

She should not expect Mysteryman in Kentucky or Foxfyre in New Mexico or some other hapless taxpayer to take care of it for her.

revel wrote:

Quote:

So unless some private company decides to fix my country road in front of my house; I am just going to have live with the pot holes if you have your way. What if they (some nameless company) decide the cost of labor and paying employees will not turn them a profit fixing a road in the middle of no where and just let it fall apart? Tough out of luck?

And your post seems to say that you either cant or wont fix the road yourself.
Instead, you seem to want to rely on some unnamed person or entity to fix it for you.
Whats wrong with you and your neighbors pooling your resources and fixing it yourself?

It's an economy of scale issue. It's just not profitable to do all repairs on an ad-hoc basis. It would be like suggesting we defend our country by having everyone show up with their rifle

Cycloptichorn

mysteryman wrote:

revel wrote:

Quote:

So unless some private company decides to fix my country road in front of my house; I am just going to have live with the pot holes if you have your way. What if they (some nameless company) decide the cost of labor and paying employees will not turn them a profit fixing a road in the middle of no where and just let it fall apart? Tough out of luck?

And your post seems to say that you either cant or wont fix the road yourself.
Instead, you seem to want to rely on some unnamed person or entity to fix it for you.
Whats wrong with you and your neighbors pooling your resources and fixing it yourself?

It's an economy of scale issue. It's just not profitable to do all repairs on an ad-hoc basis. It would be like suggesting we defend our country by having everyone show up with their rifle

Cycloptichorn

So you cant buy some asphalt or dirt or something similiar and fix the pothole in front of your house yourself?

Cycloptichorn wrote:

mysteryman wrote:

revel wrote:

Quote:

So unless some private company decides to fix my country road in front of my house; I am just going to have live with the pot holes if you have your way. What if they (some nameless company) decide the cost of labor and paying employees will not turn them a profit fixing a road in the middle of no where and just let it fall apart? Tough out of luck?

And your post seems to say that you either cant or wont fix the road yourself.
Instead, you seem to want to rely on some unnamed person or entity to fix it for you.
Whats wrong with you and your neighbors pooling your resources and fixing it yourself?

It's an economy of scale issue. It's just not profitable to do all repairs on an ad-hoc basis. It would be like suggesting we defend our country by having everyone show up with their rifle

Cycloptichorn

So you cant buy some asphalt or dirt or something similiar and fix the pothole in front of your house yourself?

Yes, it can be done, but it isn't a plan for taking care of the potholes in the city. It's what has to be done when there IS NO plan to fix the potholes.

Some potholes will exist, but not be in front of anyone's house. Who fixes those? Specialization and division of labor has allowed our society and our species to progress tremendously. While this can be taken past the point where it is efficient, it is nearly always better to have a group who specializes in doing a certain task then to have each person focus on completing every task that needs to be done.

And what you propose doesn't scale up much, either. Let's say the sewer backs up on your street; you going to go fix it? What about the effects your personal fix may have on the sewer system as a whole? I don't think you are taking the big picture into account here.

Cycloptichorn

mysteryman wrote:

revel wrote:

Quote:

So unless some private company decides to fix my country road in front of my house; I am just going to have live with the pot holes if you have your way. What if they (some nameless company) decide the cost of labor and paying employees will not turn them a profit fixing a road in the middle of no where and just let it fall apart? Tough out of luck?

And your post seems to say that you either cant or wont fix the road yourself.
Instead, you seem to want to rely on some unnamed person or entity to fix it for you.
Whats wrong with you and your neighbors pooling your resources and fixing it yourself?

More importantly, why is it important to her that it be the FEDERAL government who fixes it at three times the cost that it would take the local authorities to do so, or which Revel and her neighbors could fix for a buck or two?

Sttreets and roads are a valid responsibility of government, but the stret in front of Revel's house should be a local government concern. She should be able to call up the department and say hey, I've got a big pothole in the street out here. Please come fix it.

She should not expect Mysteryman in Kentucky or Foxfyre in New Mexico or some other hapless taxpayer to take care of it for her.

Actually I live in Kentucky too, but I just used the road in front of my house as an illustration. It don't matter to me if the local or federal government fixes the pot holes on the roads and highways as long as someone is in charge of fixing the roads and bridges in our country so that so that at the end of the day we have a way of knowing if the job is being done or not. Suggesting I fix the pot hole myself is getting a bit ridiculous. Sure with someone who knows about that sort of thing I could arrange for the pot holes in my road to be fixed. I would like to see McCain suggest that as a solution to the infrastructure problem we have in states all across the country in his compaign. It would only go over well with radical illogical conservatives such some of the examples on this forum. Why do you think they rejected the gas tax holiday? Because they know it is not responsible and that we need to fix our roads and bridges and we can only do if we have the money to do it with. Going private is not going to go over any better than the suggestion to privatize social security has to date.

U.S. Infrastructure in the Emergency Lane

Gov. Schwarzenegger Joins Nation's Governors to Make Investment in Aging Infrastructure a Federal Priority

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Thursday that, if elected, he would like to take a page from the British government and appear in question-and-answer sessions with lawmakers.

"I will ask Congress to grant me the privilege of coming before both houses to take questions, and address criticism, much the same as the prime minister of Great Britain appears regularly before the House of Commons," McCain said in excerpts of a speech he is to deliver later in Columbus, Ohio.

Although U.S. presidents deliver annual "State of the Union" speeches to Congress at the start of each year, those formal addresses do not include a question-and-answer session.

McCain said exchanges such as those in the House of Commons are a way of holding leaders accountable.

"When we make errors, I will confess them readily, and explain what we intend to do to correct them," McCain said. He also reiterated a pledge to hold weekly news conferences, a change from President George W. Bush's practice of holding them roughly once a month.

Meanwhile McCain gave a really good speech this morning. It will be seen as either too weak or too socialist or too naive by the hard core conservatives I think, and it will be ridiculed by the liberals, but I think it will probably resonate well with a lot of people in this country.

But you certainly seem to keep pushing for EVERYTHING to be a federal priority, Revel. Just look at the links you posted.

Meanwhile McCain gave a really good speech this morning. It will be seen as either too weak or too socialist or too naive by the hard core conservatives I think, and it will be ridiculed by the liberals, but I think it will probably resonate well with a lot of people in this country.