Q: "What has the government ever done better than the private sector?"

[scheming daemons]

A: Put a man on the moon, for one. Every employee at NASA, up to and including Neal Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, was on the government payroll. Every dollar spent on the space program was a taxpayer dollar. It's been 40 years, and no private entity anywhere on the planet has come close to duplicating it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA

Q: "Yeah... but what else?"

A: The U.S. Military. It is, without a doubt, the most professional and effective fighting force in the world. True, it's missions are not always right-headed and are sometimes downright wrong, but no one can question the quality of the fighting forces themselves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_armed_forces

Q: "Yeah, true.. but what about something that's NOT related to war and space exploration? Where has the government ever done better than the private sector here on earth and at home?"

A: The Interstate Highway System. This massive government program laid down the infrastructure necessary to literally make the whole country accessible with less than a 3-day drive. 99.2% of the population of the continental U.S. lives within 50 miles of an interstate on-ramp.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System

Q: "Yeah, ok... but anything else?"

A: The internet, which you are utilizing right now. It began as a Dept of Defense project (DARPAnet). The research and development of what grew into what is commonly referred to as the "Internet" was completely government-funded.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARPANET

Q: "Ok. So any other examples of government doing something the private sector couldn't?"

A: Well, the United States Postal Service, for one. It reaches areas where private companies (FedEx and UPS) don't go because there is no profit to be made in some rural areas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service


Here's a couple other examples of advancements funded by the government that no private sectory entity has ever matched:

- The polio vaccine. Completely funded by federal government research dollars and developed by Jonas Salk at the University of Pittsburgh (a publicly-funded University)

- The nation's first commercial Nuclear Power plant was built by federal dollars at Shippensport PA in 1957.



There are literally thousands of areas where the government has done the job that private entities could or would not in this nation's history.

Yes... private industry has its place. But it cannot, and is not equipped to, do all the things that the public sector can. Things that are necessary. Things that advance our nation and our world.


Health Care is one of those things that is done better by the public sector than the private sector. Nearly every industrialized nation on the planet that has National Health Care scores higher than the U.S. in health-related statistics... whether it be longevity, infant mortality, you name it.

Some things should be done by the government. Some things shouldn't.

Health Care should.

[Butch350]

1. The government didn't knock the money out of my 401k...

my 401k is through the US GOV and it's still safe and secure.

[slackmaster]

2. I always think of the National Weather Service and US Geological Survey when asked that one

We have the best weather service in the world, one that has saved countless lives and helped protect vast amounts of property. The USGS topographic maps alone have more than paid for what has been spend on the service.

[FSogol]

5. +1 n/t

[patrice]

3. National and State Parks. nt

[unpossibles]

4. recommended

I am rather shocked that this had a negative score!

Well, not really. I notice the down-voter did not bother to expose themselves to actually criticizing your argument.

[FSogol]

6. K & R. n/t

[Deja Q]

7. Most people who say government can't do it right elect people who keep doing it wrong

Either because they're fools or paid for or whatever reason one can find and elaborate upon.

Funny how that works...

[BlueJazz]

14. Excellent Point !

[Beartracks]

65. Funny! Can I put that on a shirt? n/t

[Soylent Brice]

8. kick

[dhpgetsit]

9. Public fire protection seems to be working fairly well.

[troubledamerican]

115. Nope -- new PRIVATE fire departments for the ultrawealthy.

Fire departments USED to be PRIVATE.

The problem was, if you paid, but the house next to you didn't -- whoops.

As always with fascists, they want to turn back the clock:

"Under Bush, Decay of Public Firefighting Spawned Billion-Dollar Industry":

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/As_public_firefighting_decays_billion_dollar_1210.html

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=privatized+fire+department&fr=yfp-t-150&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8

As always with democrats (small d), we're busy watching cartoons.

Except for Naomi Klein:

http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine/resources/disaster-capitalism-in-action/tags/wildfires

[kentuck]

10. Why are so many looking for a government job?

If the government is so bad?

[DURHAM D]

11. An organized government is required to provide the basics -

roads/highways
education
clean water
food standards
medicine
air travel
air quality
land usage
etc.
etc.
etc.

[scheming daemons]

12. And I contend that Health Care is one of those basics...

[JDPriestly]

69. The National Institutes of Health -- a proof that the government is good

at doing things. Then there are the FDA, the EPA, etc. Can you imagine what kind of world we would live in if any company could put any chemical on the market and tell us it would cure whatever we have. Disastrous. Thank you, USFDA for at least keeping the worst stuff off the pharmacy shelves.

[AllenVanAllen]

91. In my mind it's so basic, it's a human right.

Brilliant post!

[orwell]

13. The CDF...

...in California.

They have saved my house twice.

This is the fastest response fire service imaginable.

http://www.fire.ca.gov/

[joeybee12]

15. Um, big question...why is this posted here instead fo some weak-knee Dem senator

using this information to beat back the repuke lies and propoganda?

Seriously, all the pro-Repuke healthcare propoganda can be easily beaten down...why isn't it?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

16. Government, in small doses, is OK. It's the goddam politicians that screw it up.

"History has tried to teach us that we can't have good government under politicians.  Now, to go and stick one at the very head of government couldn’t be wise."

"When politics enter . . . government, nothing resulting there from in the way of crimes and infamies is then incredible. It actually enables one to accept and believe the impossible."

"In . . . politics people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination, from authorities who have not themselves examined the questions at issue but have taken them at second-hand from other non-examiners, whose opinions about them were not worth a brass farthing."

"The government of my country snubs honest simplicity, but fondles artistic villainy, and I think I might have developed into a very capable pickpocket if I had remained in the public service a year or two."

"Right here in this heart and home and fountain-head of law, this great factory where are forged those rules that create good order and compel virtue and honesty in the other communities of the land, rascality achieves its highest perfection."

Mark Twain

[johnaries]

17. Another thing government does better - HEALTH INSURANCE!

http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/HealthPolicy/15131

Administrative costs and profits consume anywhere from 5% to 40% of premiums, according to the report, with a higher percentage among small-employer and individual groups.


On the other hand, Medicare administrative costs account for 2% to 5% of premiums.

[snot]

18. Milwaukee had a socialist mayor for many years and developed

the best public school, parks, and freeway systems of any U.S. city I've ever visited.

[Orsino]

19. Public baths!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc7HmhrgTuQ

[PVnRT]

20. In his first book, Al Franken destroyed this theme nicely

He did the same thing, but asked Republicans what they thought good government programs were, making Rush look like a fucking idiot.

[Swagman]

76. not a good example..it's too easy to make Rush look like a fucking idiot..

he does it all by himself every day :rofl:

[SteelPenguin]

80. Yeah I remember that

Rural Electrification was a big one. Wasn't enough money in it for private companies to provide electricity to most rural areas, so the government had to step in and require it.

Even today with things like internet and cable television they're doing somewhat of the same stuff, but not enough. Here in Pittsburgh Verizon FIOS was prevented for a long time from having TV service in the city, unless they provided that service to the ENTIRE city, not just the wealthier parts. For a while they refused to do it, but they've finally capitualted and agreed to provide it to the entire city.

Private companies can be trusted to do one thing. Increase their profits. Government MUST be there to regulate them.

[cynthia]

21. All of the intelligent talking heads should be drumming these points

home - Rachel Maddow, Keith Olberman, Air America???

[moondust]

22. "When you need to move mountains -- call the government."

Health care in the U.S. is another mountain that needs moving.

[BolivarianHero]

23. Here's what it comes down to...

The government should provide the infrastructure and the resources so that innovative people have the time, the space, and the opportunity to innovate. That means stuff like Internet infrastructure, roads, and health care, among other things, are the domain of the state.

[Bill McBlueState]

24. Is there a triple-recommend button somewhere? n/t

[Spider Jerusalem]

25. Contention on at least one of your points:

The US military may be the most effective (because of technological advantages not enjoyed by other countries with much smaller military budgets), but 'most professional'? The British military comes to mind, for one (US Special Forces doctrine and training is modelled after the British SAS/SBS, and not the other way around, after all).

[Mark Baker]

37. That may be true now...

... but the British government is trying to privatise military training (yes, really!) which is bound to fuck it up completely.

[drm604]

26. The government has provided the infrastructure necessary for many industries.

Look at the private industry that has grown up around the GPS system, for example. Could Garmin and TomTom make a profit if they had to launch and maintain those satellites?

[Swagman]

77. how much industry survives because of government welfare?

[barbtries]

27. very well done

thank you

[glitch]

28. Social Security and Medicare are considered very successful by the people who rely on them

as well as their families.

[apnu]

29. Neat list, but you forgot the TVA, before the Gov'mnt sold it off (nt)

[scheming daemons]

43. I'm sure I've forgotten literally thousands of items....

....

[redqueen]

30. K&R

[LeftishBrit]

31. When people ask such questions...

I always wonder how much experience they've had in dealing with the private sector. Yes, there are good private organizations and companies; and anyone who's experienced my county council knows that government isn't always perfect; but I've NEVER experienced such inefficiency as from a certain bank I've had to deal with, for example. I can never understand the rose-coloured glasses about all things private-sector.

[gmoney]

38. There are just as many idiots in the private sector...

...who have more motive to profit from unscrupulous action, and less oversight.

[Beartracks]

64. True that, and bureaucracies, too.

Governments are not the exclusive domain of bureaucracies. Check with your, uh... health insurance company.

[ejpoeta]

73. it's just this all good/all bad thing they've got going. on both sides.

yes, there are issues with things the government does, but how much of that has to do with the people involved!! and there are private enterprises that do great stuff.... but how many of them are there vs the ones that don't. there are pros and cons to each, but I don't see how a for profit health insurance system helps anyone but hte health insurance companies. I mean, they are the only enterprise I know of who can only make money by NOT providing the service. Health should not be a for profit thing. It can't without people getting thrown under the bus on a regular basis. They take our money and then screw us over when it comes time to deliver. If I ordered a pizza and then they decided not to deliver it, wouldn't they get in trouble or something?? but somehow the insurance companies doing just that is ok.

[freebrew]

109. Right you are.

Anyone that thinks private industry is efficient has probably never worked there.
Promotions not based on quality of work but rather whose arse you kiss.
Execs only want to hear good news regardless.
Shifting responsibility for things that go wrong to a lowlier individual and taking credit for that same individual's work when things go good.
Cutting costs by reducing labor instead of those at the top...
Some of that goes on in govt too, but not nearly as much or for as long.

[blm]

32. Protect the Elderly thru Social Security/Medicare - private sector would kick them to the curb.

.

[joeunderdog]

108. Medicare BEFORE Bush reformed it was a great example of a super-efficient government program.

[JPZenger]

33. Feds Can Run Insurance, but not Actual Health Care

The US Govt. does a fine job administering Medicare (with some private contractors). However, the Feds do not do such a good job actually running hospitals, if you look at the VA.

Of course, TV commercials are trying to confuse the facts between the government offering health insurance as an additional option, vs. running the actual facilities.

(I have a relative who works for the VA, and you would not believe the year-long runaround she went through between the time they said they would hire her, and the time she was actually able to start work. In the meantime, she had turned down other offers, because she thought she would be starting at the VA any day. This is someone with 25 years of private and military nursing experience and several degrees.)

[JDPriestly]

70. The Feds would not be running hospitals under the proposed plans.

You need to review the information about the plans. The Feds would leave running healthcare services up to the medical community. That's the way it works in Europe. The government is not going to administer hospitals. The government is going to take tax money or individual payments from the insureds, process claims and give the money to the health care providers. The government will amass statistics (anonymous) and sponsor a system that centralizes your medical records for you. Your healthcare can, if we citizens want it to, remain private. No one is allowed to go in and look at my personal Social Security information -- no one but me. It would work that way.

The Feds are never going to want to run hospitals. In fact, the proposal would probably make it easier for governments at all levels to avoid running hospitals. That's because people would all have equal access to hospitals which would be run as non-profits. Here in L.A. we have County hospital. It is an excellent hospital in many respects. For example, it is a teaching and research hospital. But many of the patients are low-income or no-income. So waiting times are long even though the care is good. Those who go to that hospital would probably have regular health care and more choice as to their provider and caregiver. I like that idea.

[Fuzz]

34. I had a political science professor that totally destroyed a dittohead

calmly with just this type of argument. The dittohead was blustering and angry, but the professor just answered his questions with facts like this over and over and the guy was flummoxed. Was a sight to behold and the class was laughing at the dude.

[truedelphi]

61. That is wonderful. n/t

[gmoney]

35. "What have the Romans ever done for us?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExWfh6sGyso

...and don't forget rural electrification. Most of the red states would be even MORE in the dark without Roosevelt's actions there. They also legislate other infrastructure like telephone service and cable TV be widely available, even in some unprofitable areas.

[gratuitous]

40. Took everything right off my keyboard

Both the Monty Python reference (Okay, but other than the roads, the military, the fire department, police department, schools, sanitation, restaurant inspections, public health, rural electrification, and an economic structure that pays for all that and still allows for obscene profit-taking by the greediest among us, what has the goddam government ever done for US?) and rural electrification immediately suggested themselves to my mind when I started on this thread.

I wish every elected official who believes in the mission of the public sector would memorize just five of these, so they could rattle them off whenever some pinhead starts in on the evils of the government. It's not that government does everything better, but it provides a platform of services and stability that makes so many other things possible.

[FatDave]

36. OK, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, public order, irrigation, roads...

...a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?

[Spike89]

39. Education

It's easy to take potshots at public education, but even a guy that went to private schools (K-12) can plainly see that every dollar spent on public education reverberates through the economy. We have a great, almost universal literacy rate. Our public colleges are not only the envy of the world, they serve as a much needed social steam valve and socio-economic ladder. Private colleges can be great institutions, but they simply can't offer places for enough middle and lower class students. Without the opportunity, debatable and limited as it may be, our society would not be as stable as it is.

Private education is an excellent auxillary to a public system, but it can't replace it.

[edc]

72. Yes.

And if anyone wonders how well the private sector would do educating 50 million children now enrolled in public schools, please consider how well it does dispensing medical insurance.

[johnaries]

101. WELL SAID!!!!!

:applause:

[crickets]

41. Rural electrification.

This is a great list & discussion; thanks for the post. K&R

[Richardo]

74. That's always my answer, plus a powerful argument against deregulation

What rational for-profit company would have made that investment on its own? None. The flyover states would STILL have huge areas without electricity.

[scentopine]

90. Posted same below, missed yours! New deal seems like lost history.

[OwnedByFerrets]

42. Great Post.

[chrisa]

44. People seem to forget that...

The Private sector is a gigantic mess too. I mean, the private sector sure did quite well this last year too.

[jimlup]

45. Even if the government were worse ...

(which it isn't). It is ultimately under democratic control as opposed to corporate control which is undemocratic in the extreme.

[librechik]

46. Social Security--insurance that covers evreybody with only 3% overhead

beat that, AIG!

[Faryn Balyncd]

47. I'll take the Park Service & Post Office any day over Bed, Bath & Beyond & Fed Ex with the UNINSURED

.... private "contractors" & their overpriced baubles.

FedEx not only can't delivery overnight shipments as cheaply & reliably as the post office, they freeload off the government on healthcare by dumping thousands of so-called "contractors" into the ranks of medically un-insured.

[Faryn Balyncd]

48. And I'll take the U. S. Marines over Blackwater any day as well.

[warren pease]

49. The air traffic control system

Why would anyone want the air traffic control system privatized? There you are suspended seven miles in the air when the captain comes on the intercom and tells you that Glutco Air Traffic Solutions, Inc. has just laid off 40 percent of its workforce, including most of the people who staffed the control tower at the airport you're heading to.

As the knuckles whiten...


sf

[jwirr]

50. As someone who has lived in poverty much of my life I can tell you

that the government did a hell of a lot better at helping me than any church or private corporation.

[Fedja]

51. Run my damn country

eom :)

[theMark]

52. Give it the "Who's more likely" test...

Who's more likely to look out for the interests / health of a person?

* An entity who wants to keep as many people (especially voting age people) healthy, alive, and voting (government);

or

* An entity whose main purpose is to create wealth for its stockholders, and who loses money everytime it has to pay out (private insurance)?

Who will I trust more?

[LaPera]

53. And how many of these same republicans have used or are using Social Security, Medicare Unemployment

insurance, veteran programs these are all programs setup designed and pushed through by democrat, republican vote against them have always despised them...YET THE REPUBLICANS STILL USE THRSE GREAT LIBERAL ORIGRAMS PAID FOR BY THE PEOPLE OUR TAXES!

Have republicans ever used libraries, public education (JC Junior Colleges) sidewalks, highways, bridges, police & fire department, enjoyed our federal lands, forest, waterways maintained by federal workers....How about their republican congressmen or Senators & their staffs paid federally by our taxes.

WE NEED DESPERATELY GOVERNMENT HEALTH CARE WITH A PUBLIC OPTION NOW...FIGHT THE SAME LYING, GREEDY DUPLICIT REPUBLICANS AND THEIR MONEY BAG MEN THE INSURANCE CORPORATIONS & THEIR LOBBYIST!!

[Uncle Joe]

54. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, scheming daemons.:thumbsup:

[Naturyl]

55. Rec'd. Well-argued.

People have been doing exactly the right thing lately, which is to keep drilling home the reality of all these government-funded "socialist" successes. The charge that government can never do anything right and the charge that national health care is "socialism" can both be neutralized in this manner.

[ColbertWatcher]

56. Excellent. k+r, n/t

[kestrel91316]

57. Universities. Roads and highways. Preserving our natural wonders.

I could go on, but you get the point.

[ipaint]

58. Universal health care (for veterans)

"Yet here's a curious fact that few conservatives or liberals know. Who do you think receives higher-quality health care. Medicare patients who are free to pick their own doctors and specialists? Or aging veterans stuck in those presumably filthy VA hospitals with their antiquated equipment, uncaring administrators, and incompetent staff? An answer came in 2003, when the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine published a study that compared veterans health facilities on 11 measures of quality with fee-for-service Medicare. On all 11 measures, the quality of care in veterans facilities proved to be "significantly better."

Here's another curious fact. The Annals of Internal Medicine recently published a study that compared veterans health facilities with commercial managed-care systems in their treatment of diabetes patients. In seven out of seven measures of quality, the VA provided better care.

It gets stranger. Pushed by large employers who are eager to know what they are buying when they purchase health care for their employees, an outfit called the National Committee for Quality Assurance today ranks health-care plans on 17 different performance measures. These include how well the plans manage high blood pressure or how precisely they adhere to standard protocols of evidence-based medicine such as prescribing beta blockers for patients recovering from a heart attack. Winning NCQA's seal of approval is the gold standard in the health-care industry. And who do you suppose this year's winner is: Johns Hopkins? Mayo Clinic? Massachusetts General? Nope. In every single category, the VHA system outperforms the highest rated non-VHA hospitals.

Not convinced? Consider what vets themselves think. Sure, it's not hard to find vets who complain about difficulties in establishing eligibility. Many are outraged that the Bush administration has decided to deny previously promised health-care benefits to veterans who don't have service-related illnesses or who can't meet a strict means test. Yet these grievances are about access to the system, not about the quality of care received by those who get in. Veterans groups tenaciously defend the VHA and applaud its turnaround. "The quality of care is outstanding," says Peter Gayton, deputy director for veterans affairs and rehabilitation at the American Legion. In the latest independent survey, 81 percent of VHA hospital patients express satisfaction with the care they receive, compared to 77 percent of Medicare and Medicaid patients."

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2005/0501.longman.html

Does The Government Run Health Care Better?
Health-care bloggers Merrill Goozner and Joe Paduda are talking about one of my favorite ideas: expanding the Veterans Health Administration to non-veterans. To understand why this would be a good idea, read Phil Longman's definitive article on the subject.

I've been thinking of writing a really long post along these lines, but the short version is this: If you crudely ordered America's different health-care systems from least government control to most, it would look something like this: individual insurance market, employer-based insurance market, Medicare, Veterans Health Administration (Medicare is single-payer, but VA is actually socialized medicine, where the government owns the hospitals and employs the doctors).

If you ordered America's different health systems worst-functioning to best, it would look like this: individual insurance market, employer-based insurance market, Medicare, Veterans Health Administration.

That symmetry should get more attention in the health-care discussion than it does.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/06/does_the_government_run_health.html

[AllyCat]

102. Thanks. More fire for my retort to these misguided friends and relatives

I'm arguing with on facebook.

[bobbolink]

59. Forest Service campgrounds, privatized, vs. National Park campgrounds, gov.

Forest service campgrounds are privatized, more expensive, poorly maintained, and much more primative....i.e., pit toilets, no water, etc.

National Park campgrounds are Park Service run, most have very nice restrooms and are well-maintained, water, etc., and cost less per night.

On top of that, the park service people are very devoted, because it's something they believe in, rather than there to make a salary.

It's a clear difference.

[sakabatou]

60. GI Bill. Medicare

[Beartracks]

62. Federal vs. Private motivations

Motivating factors behind Federal activity - First: Does it need to be done?
Motivating factors behind private activity - First: Can it make money?


That's not to say that things that need to be done MUST by done by government. However, if the profit motive of private industry actually inhibits the goal of a needed activity, then the private model clearly isn't the way to go.

Take, for example, the goal of all Americans having real, reliable access to medical services. If the profit motive of the healthcare/insurance industries makes healthcare inaccessible to millions of people, rations it to others, and generates massive debtloads for patients -- then the private model clearly isn't the way to go, because the goal cannot be reached.

[DailyGrind51]

63. What if the Manhattan Project had been run by General Motors?

"We'll never turn a profit on these things! Let's put nukes on the back burner until we obtain a market assessment."

Headlines, 1946: "Soviets Detonate First A-Bomb!" "General Motors Promises American Bomb By '47"

[madeup64]

66. What about Child Support Enforcement?

I know its not really on the level as say health care or water services but making sure children who have both parents taking care of them financially is something that is in the best interest of the nation.

There are private programs (supportkids and supportcollectors to name a few) out there that people can use but they don't come close to brining in the money for Custodial parents that the states do. They also have a terrible reputation for going after parents who have finished paying off their debts.

[progressoid]

67. Well, there are people that would love to privatize a lot of these things.

Like the post office. Or they point to the military or SS as examples of deficit spending.

You're never going to convince them that anything govt related is good. I think they're called idiots.

[JDPriestly]

68. I asked my 90+ year old mother this question and she came up with

a list so long you would not believe it. There is Social Security, the student loan program (was originally a government program), the FHA (originally government), all kinds of veterans' services, and then all those depression era programs that saved so many people from starvation. There are also school lunches and farm subsidies (kept farmers going in rough years), flood insurance programs. The list is just endless.

Those who think the government can't do anything right are simply not thinking.

[Hannah Bell]

71. parks service, back when the ranger stations were manned, even in the back country.

[Swagman]

75. and government in Australia has created a government run Medicare where every

citizen gets into a hospital or to see a doctor whether they are a billionaire or pauper... and all get the same superb healthcare

[Canuckistanian]

78. It's like Monty Python's "What have the Romans ever done for us?"

Reg: All right... all right... but apart from better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order... what have the Romans done for us?

Xerxes: Brought peace!

http://www.epicure.demon.co.uk/whattheromans.html

[BumRushDaShow]

79. ENIAC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENIAC

[ThoughtCriminal]

81. Buy Land

The Louisiana Purchase, Alaska, the Gadsden Purchase...

[Joanne98]

82. NOAA, Health Department, CDC, NIH, Tennessee Vally Authority, AMTRAK

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NOAA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_department

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centers_for_Disease_Control_and_Prevention

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NIH

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Valley_Authority

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amtrak

[Joanne98]

83. Here's a list of government owned corporations.......

The Government owned corporations of the United States are as follows:

Tennessee Valley Authority
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Millenium challenge corporation
St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation
Amtrak
NPRC
Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Freddie Mac
Fannie Mae
Panama Canal Authority
Bank of America (and subsidiaries)
GMC (General Motors Corp) (and others)
AIG (American International Group) (and others)
Legal services corp.
Federal Crop Insurance Corporation
CCC (Community Commodity Corp)
Corporation for National Community Service (and all programs)
Sallie Mae (And subsidiaries)
Farmer Mac
Corp for Public Broadcasting
Voice America
FDIC (Federal Deposit insurance corp)
SPIC
Examples of government owned organizations

AARP
AAA
National Geographic Society
American motion pictures association
Big sister little sisters
American Red Cross
PVA
AIO_LIO
YMCA (and worldwide places)
Boys and Girls Club of America
Boys and Girls Scouts of America
and millions of others

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-owned_enterprise

[Lydia Leftcoast]

84. Years ago, I read an essay by Barbara Ehrenreich

in which she noted that since the Reagan administration, governments had been building up its coercive and aggressive aspects (the military, the police, prisons, the whole drug war) while starving its generous and humanitarian aspects (education, the environment, housing, transit).

Thus it was easy to convince people that the government could do no good.

[varelse]

85. K&R

[Overseas]

86. And privatization has really screwed things up in the military.

Especially the Cheeneey gang and their war profiteering.

We're paying a lot more for much poorer performance than the military used to do in house.

Before privatization, too, a person who wanted to serve their country but wasn't cut out for combat could be a military cook, or be the base electrician, and they had to answer to high standards of their commanding officers. And after military service, veterans had real world skills they could use to get jobs.

And I don't remember moms having to do bake sales to buy armor for their kids before the era of rampant privatization.

Nor do I remember official military engineers electrocuting troops in the shower with whoopsie wiring.

Or military cooks serving moldy food to the troops.

So instead of asking what the government has done right, I think the much tougher question would be what has privatization ever improved? What systems in the USA that were formerly government run have become more efficient and economical through privatization?

[bertman]

87. Excellent post, Scheming Daemons. You've given me lots of ammo for my family

"discussions". Thank you.

Recommend.

[scentopine]

88. Rural Electrification Admin - power companies refused elec. to "poor" towns

[Ranting_Wacko]

89. Don't forget public libraries! -nt-

[napoleon_in_rags]

93. Libraries are interesting in their own right.

As I recall, many libraries also got funded by generous grants from capitalists of their times, like Carnegie. There was a time when Capitalists argued on behalf of the private sector saying that these acts of charity would happen, so state like benefits could be bestowed by a powerful private sector. Now days, all they ever seem to argue is that greed is good, and benefits will "trickle down" rather than claiming capitalists will make such willing sacrifices for the public benefit.

[napoleon_in_rags]

94. Godspeed with this OP to the upper echelons of Greatest land. nt

[Island Blue]

112. Absolutely.

In the private sector they're called "book stores" and while also great, one can't always fork over $29.95 every time they want to read a book. Of course I realize that most Republican types have very little use for libraries. Or book stores.

[AllyCat]

92. thank you. More fuel for the fire with a fellow facebooker who thinks I'm spouting talking points

She says the gov't can't do it better than your insurance. They all feel I'm using "left wing talking points". While I may be left wing, my comments are in line with mainstream polling.

[pitchforksandtorches]

95. Dick Freedom – Commie Hunter

American hero Dick Freedom is rooting out communist plots and giving them what for in this thrilling adventure!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKDHF4kXWu8

[invictus]

96. MEDICARE!

[TygrBright]

97. The Rural Electrification Administration

If it had been up to private sector power companies to make a profit off providing the power grid infrastructure for poor rural farms in the 1930s, when WWII rolled around we would have had food rationing that would have been seriously painful and possibly impeded the war effort.

informatively,
Bright

[TygrBright]

98. Oh, yeah, and the whole Land-Grant University system.

The backbone of higher education in America.

absent-mindedly,
Bright

[chknltl]

99. Kept the food in my Supermarket safe

Kept planes from falling on my head
Kept my workplace safe
Kept the food in my restaurant safe
Kept my VA hospital responsible for treating what ails me
Kept my air and water clean...well until bush came along
Retutned many fishermen to their loved ones when their boats were in distress off our coasts.

[chknltl]

100. Oh and kept BC Bud from infiltrating my town.

....um wait a minute. That's one they didn't do so good at. I guess I'll have to forgive 'em for that.

[TheBigotBasher]

103. Republicans argue that Government is

is inefficient not because they truly do not believe in it (suggest looking at Military expenditure), but simply because they are bad managers of it.

[Joe the Liberal]

104. The government can run most things better than the private sector.....

I agree %100.

When the private sector is running things they only have the best interest of those at the top and greed and profit withhold progress. When the government is running things it has the best interest of the people, and that's the key difference imo.

[intaglio]

105. Sounds like you need a laugh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc7HmhrgTuQ

[armyowalgreens]

106. Bookmarking. K&R

[Vinca]

107. I'm happy you mentioned the post office. No connection here, but

I think they give amazing service plus free boxes and packaging supplies! Every time I hear a Republican comparing health care to the "demon" post office I wonder when they last mailed their own letters.

[JNelson6563]

110. Damn Skippy.

:toast: Well done.

[Island Blue]

111. Great post!

How about FDIC protection.

[Crunchy Frog]

113. Invented the A bomb and the H bomb.

Not that they're wonderful things, but it was nevertheless an incredible scientific/technological achievment, and probably a good thing that we did it before the Germans or the Russians. Anybody think that private industry could have accomplished the same thing?

[troubledamerican]

114. NPR went fascist, but in their heyday, "the markets" woulda decided no NPR could be profitable.

Even privatized (Sirius XM) radio proves it:

They have zero NPR-type equivalent challenger.

Unfortunately, NPR since 2000 has been National Pentagon Radio.