My rebuttal to Ann Coulter's "government workers worse than the unemployed" comment

[jmowreader]

I think it's safe to say Ann Coulter smokes because stale cigarette smoke tastes better than that foot she keeps sticking in her mouth.

Today's foot-in-mouth exercise: Coulter pulled out the very old, very tired comment that government workers don't produce anything.

Well, since "producing things" is the only measure of a person's worth, at least according to the Republicans, the following people are ALSO worthless:

Ann's hairdresser...come to think of it, Ann's hairdresser really doesn't do much now--it doesn't take all that much talent to cut an inch off the ends of it the day after payday
The people who use their considerable makeup talents to make her presentable for the camera, and covering up the horns and tail is no mean feat
The nice lady at the shoe store who knows where the "special shoes" that hide the cloven hooves are kept
The bartender who keeps Ann supplied with white wine
The guy who fixes the brakes on her car
The guy who puts new tires on her car
The guy who pumps gas into her car
The woman who cleans her house
The man who cooks her meals
The engineers at television stations all over the country who manage to stifle their collective gag reflexes long enough to put Ann on the air

What do all these nice people have in common--well, besides having to put up with Ann Coulter on a regular basis? That's right! They're all SERVICE EMPLOYEES! And so are government employees! Two-thirds of the people in this country work in a service industry. Are Republicans actually saying two-thirds of the American people are worthless? (Don't answer that.)

[mmonk]

1. They don't seem to realize the lord and god of the right, corporations,

have their products bought by public employees as well.

[deacon]

2. Ann is washed up and boring. n/t

[Harry Callahan]

3. I despise Coulter, but the fact of the matter is that governments consume, they do not produce.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. I am living in a state whose government is currently shut down.

And I can tell you that that statement is pure bullshit. You don't realize what a government does until it stops doing it.

Right now, in Minnesota over 22,000 government employees have been laid off. Roads are not being constructed or inspected; parks are closed; building permits are not being issued; veterans are not getting tuition grants; some nursing homes are unable to provide care; tax returns aren't being audited; business can't get licenses; construction projects can't get permits; professionals like doctors and lawyers can't get their licenses issued or renewed; non-profit organizations that provide social services can't get funds to operate.

Governments produce (roads and airports, for example), and also make it possible for the private sector to produce (through funding and regulation). Come to Minnesota and you'll see for yourself how full of shit Ann Coulter is.

[Harry Callahan]

7. Everything you cited occurred as a result of the consumption of that which was produced by others.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. Government makes it possible to produce.

In Minnesota many things are not being produced right now because the government is shut down. Government also provides services (more than tangible things). Providing services is also a form of production.

[ET Awful]

5. Really?

I'm interested in knowing who produced the interstate highway system, the many hydroelectric plants throughout the country.

[Harry Callahan]

6. American workers...

[ET Awful]

8. Ummm . . . those "American workers" were what we call "Government Employees"

Which, just to let you know, are the exact people Coulter was disparaging (for which you were defending her).

By your standard, no company large or small "produces", since they all have "workers". Right?

[jmowreader]

20. Private workers built the Interstate Highway System

My father worked for the Bureau of Public Roads as a road locator until that agency closed. (He then worked for the Forest Service as a road locator until he retired.) He and his crew would come in, decide where the road needed to be, then directed private companies--the one he worked most closely with was MacGregor-Triangle--to build the roads, bridges or whatever.

The government couldn't have built the roads without the private sector companies--they didn't have the equipment or training in construction.

Nor could the private sector have built the roads without the government--not only did the government have the money, almost all civil engineers at the time worked for some level of government.

It is through properly managed public-private partnerships (KBR's "you give us as much money as we want and let us do whatever we like" setup with the Bush Crime Family is NOT a properly managed public-private partnership) that the greatest efficiencies of both can be realized.

Y'know, I never figured out this "the private sector is efficient, the government is not" shit. The single least efficient entity in the world is a private sector company that owes you money. I got a letter in May from a private sector company I worked for several years ago. It seems they just remembered they never sent me my last paycheck, and wanted to know what address to put on it.

[Maccagirl]

9. Your statement makes no sense.

n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. You mean to tell me CALTRANS is staffed by privade workers?

I know wet dream but when was it privatized?

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Tell that to soldiers, airmen and marines

who you all love to send to wars that is.


Hell, tell that to the face of your mailman...

how about your street worker?

DO NOT bother calling 911... those cops and firemen (and women) are just consuming like crazee.

And tnose are the ones you come across in your daily life.

[Harry Callahan]

13. Are you kidding me? Our military has consumed trillions in the past few years.

The USPS loses money (consumes) every year.

Savvy street workers work for themselves :)

Cops and firemen are like insurance providers. You trust that they will ensure that the only thing consumed is your premium.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Actually you get this wrong

the lowest item of cost for DOD is personnel... now Raytheon is another story... we pay CONTRACTORS through the nose as well.

The post service is losing money because of DC POLICIES... like NOT allowing them to raise the price of a first class stamp ten cents, which they have asked Congress to do for like three years... or the ever so lovely 2006 law MEANT to destroy it and privatize it. By the way 59 cent first class is STILL a bargain... and in my view should go up to Canada Post rates, still a bargain, 85 cents.

Street workers do not work for themselves, and the 911 system is NOT an insurance system... is a GOVERNEMNT run service. Now we could go back to an insurance system... and watch chigago burn again... why are they called fire companies? That is your free hint of the day.

You sure you are in the right place? You sure sound like at leaste a right wing libertarian... i could recommend a few places where you will find agreement.

[fascisthunter]

18. that's simplistic garbage used to attack social programs

without looking at the benefits to society.

[lumberjack_jeff]

21. Tell that to Lockheed and Boeing.

There is no production without consumption. There is no chicken/egg paradox. The economy starts with someone purchasing a good.

Give money to a consumer and they'll buy widgets.
Give money to "a producer" and they'll buy up a competitor.

[Dappleganger]

22. ROFL, epic bullshit.

[underpants]

23. Sorry Harry you are wrong - WWII was a massive government spending program

from which we not only got the middle class (and the beginning of feminism) but the manufacturers had plants built for them with tax dollars.

Read your history.

[girl gone mad]

24. What do they consume, and how?

[tsuki]

14. What does Ann produce other than old, tired, stale rhetoric? nt

[6000eliot]

16. I used to think she was a poison witch from hell,

but I honestly don't think that she truly believes a word she says. She's smart enough to know that almost everything she says or writes is demonstrably false. She was mostly laughing on the show last night, even at her own side.

[blkmusclmachine]

17. Ann, oh Ann, stick to your fake GLBT crowd over at GOProud

And leave all us thinking people alone.

[fascisthunter]

19. She's a Fascist Compulsive Liar

[larwdem]

25. why oh why

why did bill maher have this man on his program