Power Without Merit

All things considered, there are some endeavors that the federal government is capable of administering more efficiently and more cost-effectively than the private sector. Public works, the military and health care are three major examples. The argument that this is not so stems from "private sector" involvement in a non-competitive market in conjunction with the government.

Bush experimented with a private military that included Blackwater, and the costs were astronomical when compared to the effectiveness, which was minimal. And there were some damaging repercussions that are not usually associated with a voluntary army.

Since the inception of Medicare and Medicaid, private sector entities have exploited the systems for profit. And behavior of private sector insurers illustrates that costs will continue to go up and coverage will continue to go down for the vast majority of Americans. If you take the leash off the pit bull, it is insane to believe that it will attack less. 

The arguments of the New Conservatives are rooted in realities that were at least partially true in American history. The notion of "Go West" to a new territory and stake your claim was a viable option. And throughout much of our history, America was the land of opportunity.

With the country settled, and so much manufacturing lost, we have become a country of information and technology and sales. And much of the technology is designed to reduce, not create jobs. I thank whatever gods maybe that be that Obama had the foresight and intelligence to save the American automobile industry which, incidentally, has repaid the loans and is now leaner and healthier than ever.

With the advent of the Tea Party, it has become apparent that one of the fundamental principles of the Founding Fathers has been thrown out the window by the New Conservatives. Implicit in the formation of America was the notion of merit.

Driven by the Kock brothers, whose BC thought process and wealth come from the same place, the Mesozoic Era, Tea Party candidates pooh-pooh teachers and education, democracy and equality, standards, laws and regulations; and more fundamentally opportunity and fairness. Remember the colonists offered George Washington the crown and he rejected it as fundamentally un-American. And Newt Gingrich recently had a lapse of conscience- probably due to all that education and teaching- when he described the Ryan Plan as right-wing "social engineering".