Is It Time To Get Rid of the USPS? (Minnesota, elections, 2014)
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My post only glimpsed on the subject and I will address that now.
Your state should take care of the education of your own children. If not then shame on you!
Unfortunately, it's now been proven over and over again that many state (pols) have no shame. So that horse has left the barn.
Some states allow pretty much anything...that is, they want dirtier air and water (due to $$), more disease, etc. (because public health is expensive), etc.
There has to be a line somewhere as to a minimum to be part of the USA IMHO.
For example - just one - when I visited New Orleans I didn't feel as if I was in the USA. Statistics probably bear that out.
We can't expect uneducated people to control the purse strings of education...or can we?
Remember -didn't one of these states have a Senator that said a woman can't get preggy from rape? Yep. I could dig up a bunch of similar statements...and these people control a LOT.
Unfortunately, it's now been proven over and over again that many state (pols) have no shame. So that horse has left the barn.
Some states allow pretty much anything...that is, they want dirtier air and water (due to $$), more disease, etc. (because public health is expensive), etc.
There has to be a line somewhere as to a minimum to be part of the USA IMHO.
For example - just one - when I visited New Orleans I didn't feel as if I was in the USA. Statistics probably bear that out.
We can't expect uneducated people to control the purse strings of education...or can we?
Remember -didn't one of these states have a Senator that said a woman can't get preggy from rape? Yep. I could dig up a bunch of similar statements...and these people control a LOT.
Actually, in the long run preventive health issues is more cost-effective.
What's been lost is the notion of investing in the future. Office-holders find it easier to brag about how they cut taxes rather than explain the benefits of public expenditures. It's precisely the same reason the federal gasoline tax hasn't been raised in decades, to the detriment of national infrastructure.
The demagoges who care not a whit about anything but the next election are running the show.
In concept I don't disagree. But the result that citizens (and kids are citizens) then suffer the consequences.
How so?
Quote:
Originally Posted by craigiri
Unfortunately, it's now been proven over and over again that many state (pols) have no shame. So that horse has left the barn.
Some states allow pretty much anything...that is, they want dirtier air and water (due to $$), more disease, etc. (because public health is expensive), etc.
There has to be a line somewhere as to a minimum to be part of the USA IMHO.
For example - just one - when I visited New Orleans I didn't feel as if I was in the USA. Statistics probably bear that out.
We can't expect uneducated people to control the purse strings of education...or can we?
Remember -didn't one of these states have a Senator that said a woman can't get preggy from rape? Yep. I could dig up a bunch of similar statements...and these people control a LOT.
I strongly believe in the concept of democracy and in citizens electing the government that you deserve. If you vote in representatives that are anti-education then shame on you.
I expect that America is a democracy and that citizens should take action on every level from local to federal. You cannot escape this basic requirement of democracy.
Yes, I expect you to solve your own local problems.
New Orleans is not a good example because it is still suffering economic depression from Katrina. Perhaps there should be federal grants to bootstrap post-hurricane recovery. There probably are but AFAIK New Orleans is still a badly depressed part of the US economy.
As is rust belt states and cities like Detroit or coal belt states that were devastated by burdensome federal government regulations that shut down their economy.
Yes I guess I've given away my opinion on how America should work. I believe that ALL problems that can be handled by states should be given to the states. I believe that ONLY problems that affect the entire nation or overwhelm specific states should have the fed step in.
We have a hierarchy of government. Problems should be handled at the lowest level possible, and passed up the chain only when local government is overwhelmed. The federal government should not assume the mantle of directing everything from the top down irrespective if that's what local citizens want.
I want the federal government to deal mostly with external threats to America.
I strongly believe in the concept of democracy and in citizens electing the government that you deserve. If you vote in representatives that are anti-education then shame on you.
I expect that America is a democracy and that citizens should take action on every level from local to federal. You cannot escape this basic requirement of democracy.
Yes, I expect you to solve your own local problems.
New Orleans is not a good example because it is still suffering economic depression from Katrina. Perhaps there should be federal grants to bootstrap post-hurricane recovery. There probably are but AFAIK New Orleans is still a badly depressed part of the US economy.
As is rust belt states and cities like Detroit or coal belt states that were devastated by burdensome federal government regulations that shut down their economy.
Yes I guess I've given away my opinion on how America should work. I believe that ALL problems that can be handled by states should be given to the states. I believe that ONLY problems that affect the entire nation or overwhelm specific states should have the fed step in.
We have a hierarchy of government. Problems should be handled at the lowest level possible, and passed up the chain only when local government is overwhelmed. The federal government should not assume the mantle of directing everything from the top down irrespective if that's what local citizens want.
I want the federal government to deal mostly with external threats to America.
I want the government to deal with all threats to its citizenry. And if the locals can't do it, or won't do it, then the feds should step in. Citizens in one state are not inherently worth more or less than people in another state. We're all Americans.
I still pay bills with checks, I subscribe to magazines because I prefer hard-copies, I like to mail greeting and Christmas cards, and once in a great while I actually like to surprise someone with a handwritten letter. I will never have a smartphone as long as I can get away with it.
I use USPS a LOT, although their service has dropped in efficiency. I don't think FedX/UPS wants to be responsible for the above.
I want the government to deal with all threats to its citizenry. And if the locals can't do it, or won't do it, then the feds should step in. Citizens in one state are not inherently worth more or less than people in another state. We're all Americans.
I want people (voters, taxpayers) to deal with problems at the lowest level of government possible. Every time you send money off the chain it gets siphoned off at every level until by the time you get it back big government has skimmed most of the money away for overhead costs.
You are a globalist. I oppose big government. Never the twain shall agree.
I want people (voters, taxpayers) to deal with problems at the lowest level of government possible. Every time you send money off the chain it gets siphoned off at every level until by the time you get it back big government has skimmed most of the money away for overhead costs.
You are a globalist. I oppose big government. Never the twain shall agree.
No need to explain what you want. That's transparent.
What you haven't done is explained why one group of Americans should suffer when local government fails...as they often do.
I want people (voters, taxpayers) to deal with problems at the lowest level of government possible. Every time you send money off the chain it gets siphoned off at every level until by the time you get it back big government has skimmed most of the money away for overhead costs.
You are a globalist. I oppose big government. Never the twain shall agree.
This is a BIG right wing talking point.
Maybe I can slightly change your mind with real world experience?
My wife was an elected official in local politics. This was in a Republican town although she ran as a Democrat but then dropped out of the Dem (they, too, were crooked) and ran independent - and won in a landslide.
I could write you a book. But just as some examples of the corruption of local politics from the bottom to the top....
1. When she got elected, the word was passed from the city to the county to the state that a "White Knight" has been elected. This meant, of course, that somehow...some way...a person who actually cared about people and such things has made it into the "club" and was to be watched closely.
2. When she tried to expose even the most basic and obvious of "local deals" (these, BTW, involved tens and sometimes 100's of millions of dollars) she got a phone call from the DA in the local county suggesting they would prosecute her if she released any info on these insider deals.
3. Everything - and I mean EVERYTHING - was for sale. This goes from the toilet paper in the municipal building to judgeships. I watched a guy who was perhaps the biggest snake I ever met...get promised and then delivered a Judgeship - in Superior Court! Now, imagine a snake who sits over MURDER cases and you get the drift. Oh, he was awarded that position for helping push through a large development project inside a national/state park.
4. A giant defense contractor who had a facility in the county would hire people who were generally useless and, all of a sudden, they would be running for state and local office. At one point our local town council had a majority made up of these employees (and they also went up to county and state level). They were people with no obvious skills (maybe sold real estate - but even then, only because the Realtor was a state senator and they were his driver). They were hired for such positions as "PR" and got full pay and benefits but for some reason seemed to always have time to be everywhere except at work (at all local events, etc.).
5. Our county was run by "bosses", the most famous of whom was the Uncle of...wait....Kelly Anne Conway! He was called "God" and to say he ran everything is/was an understatement. As just some examples, he got he US Dept. of the Interior to allow massive development which would increase the value of his land holdings. NJ has a "open space" tax which raised billions - and he decided whose farms and lands the state would give 100's of millions to.
It gets even better. When the state gives you the 100's of millions, you get to keep your land and farm it as before. It's only that you cannot develop it - of course, since it's swamp, pinelands and cranberry bogs you couldn't have developed it anyway.
Well, I'm tired of writing for now....I could go on to the sex parties and even the murder (gotten away with - and/or the murderer or his family rewarded for keeping quiet so the whole political class wasn't exposed).
But - hey - if you like this type of thing you will LOVE more power locally.
This is a BIG right wing talking point.
Maybe I can slightly change your mind with real world experience?
My wife was an elected official in local politics. This was in a Republican town although she ran as a Democrat but then dropped out of the Dem (they, too, were crooked) and ran independent - and won in a landslide.
I could write you a book. But just as some examples of the corruption of local politics from the bottom to the top....
It gets even better. When the state gives you the 100's of millions, you get to keep your land and farm it as before. It's only that you cannot develop it - of course, since it's swamp, pinelands and cranberry bogs you couldn't have developed it anyway.
Well, I'm tired of writing for now....I could go on to the sex parties and even the murder (gotten away with - and/or the murderer or his family rewarded for keeping quiet so the whole political class wasn't exposed).
But - hey - if you like this type of thing you will LOVE more power locally.
He's right. I worked in law enforcement and saw how federal grant money was spent by local agencies, it would make you vomit. They hire professional grant writers to word grant applications in such a way that they can get anything they want even though they have no logical use for it.
One agency got a top of the line plotter/scanner and used it exclusively to print out large format posters of employees children and dogs. Another agency got a homeland security grant to buy a motorhome for use as a command vehicle, instead the supervisory staff took turns taking it on vacation.
And that is how they spend money when they have to pretend to justify it, you should see what they do when all they have to do is justify it to the City Council; think contracts worth tens of thousands of dollars being sole sourced to a friend of the Police Chief, starting a cops on horses program in a city where the horses contributed nothing but steaming piles on the streets, but it was a 'good deal' for the citizens because the City didn't have to buy the horses, they designed the program to pay cops who already owned horses to get stipends of several hundred dollars a month to feed their horses, and lot's of overtime to take care of them.
Outside of law enforcement it's the same. A City in California got a very large grant to provide emergency assistance to families who were in danger of being homeless. They had a local "charity" run the program (a relative of the mayor ran the charity) they used every penny for "administration and research". They never answered their phone or opened their store front office to the public, I know because I was trying to find housing for a homeless family who lost their rental when the owner quit paying the mortgage and it went into foreclosure.
Getting rid of USPS just creates a FedEx/UPS duopoly. Having the USPS as a lower cost alternative helps keep the 'gruesome twosome' honest.
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