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Politics : Mainstream Politics and Economics
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To: koan who wrote (20141)7/21/2012 2:05:00 AM
From: Jorj X Mckie1 Recommendation  Read Replies (1) of 85487
 
I agree that is what he meant and it is true. The right wing does not seem to understand their is a legitimate role for government e.g. Regan's "government is the problem not the solution." That is bullshit. Government has been the solution all through our history and should be respected, not always denigrated.


This is a strawman and it is untrue. I do not know any conservative who believes that government doesn't have some role. Our government surely has done some great things. Especially when it has stuck to legitimate federal government functions. When it has gone into the weeds doing things that should be taken care of by private enterprise, it has most often turned out to be a tremendous waste and has unintended consequences that snowball into even greater wastefulness and trampling of liberties in an attempt to clean up their original mess. The government's role isn't to solve all of our problems for us. Its role is to protect our ability to solve our problems for ourselves.

I agree that an interstate highway system cannot be done by private enterprise. Nor can national defense. The smart grid is of questionable value and could easily be handled by a free market system (different rates for different times. Most people don't even know what the smartgrid is. In Los Angeles, the first thing that the LADWP is working on is the ability to detect and monitor overheating in transformers. When a transformer overheats to a certain point it is likely to blow up and therefore cause a power outtage and therefore put additional strain on the grid. No need for federal funds for that. It is a cost savings in the long run to implement this system. Automated meter reading is another thing that falls under the smartgrid banner. Again, no need for federal funding, it's a sound business decision to do this in many cases. We also don't need the government to fund the Solyndra's and Openrange Communications of the world. If they can't make it in the business world, then maybe they weren't meant to. And we don't need the government to control health care either.

If it is something that the private sector legitimately can't do, then I say "Go Gov!!!". But when it creates a nanny state that caters to every facet of our lives, then it is out of control and in the long run will erode our individual rights.
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