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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cautious_Optimist who wrote (87944)	5/4/2012 10:39:42 AM
From: Hawkmoon	Respond to of 89467

not funding public education well is the biggest threat, as is the special needs of the poor kids or those from dysfunctional families who are not on anything near a level playing field. It ends up costing us more as a society if we do nothing early. Throwing money at a problem is not the solution. We already spend more money on education that most developed nation, yet we obtain minimal results. Expectations must rise from our students, and they must be taught those things that are required to assist them to deal with real life. The libertarian side of me agrees that the "war on drugs" is being fought poorly and those "consumers" of addictive drugs need treatment rather than incarceration. HOWEVER, those who deal those drugs are the ones, peddling addiction in order to maintain their "market share", even if it destroys lives, are the ones who need to be taken off the streets. They are targeting the children of our country. They are the enemy of social order, and they destroy the "liberty" of their customers, enslaving them to a addictive drug. So we cannot just do nothing. But we need to be smarter and prioritize our efforts. Personally, I would be for legalizing Marijuana, since it's not nearly as sinister as Meth, Heroin, or Cocaine. using emergency rooms as doctors offices is stupidly expensive; so is hunger. So you're ready to deal with the illegal immigration problem? Because the majority of people (at least in my part of the country) who use the ER are illegals who can hardly speak English. We also have to think smarter about health care. We need a hybrid system of public and private clinics. Also, we need co-pays to correspond to the type of care being sought in order to avoid overuse of the system (tragedy of the commons). I like what I saw in Thailand quite a bit. I could go to the doctor for a reasonable fee and obtain basic services (treating ear infections.. etc) without amassing a huge bill. Their dentistry services are also amazing, both from private and public perspectives. One of the problems of health insurance and government health care is that when the gov't assumes responsibility for "footing the bill", there is no cost control mechanism on the part of the hospitals and clinics. They same can also be said for higher education. IMO, this is why health care now amounts to nearly 20% of our GDP. No one seems to have an economic incentive to reduce costs. There are a few who "game" the system not unlike some businesses. It's more than just a few, IMO. And yep, businesses (like the TBTF) banks are gaming the system as well. We need more accountability and oversight so that the taxpayers get the biggest bang for the buck from the money that is spent. Labor unions are legal, and are certainly not motivating people not to work. I have no problem with private labor unions as they serve a purpose is representing the worker in a private corporation. However, I would much prefer that workers be given a bigger stake in a firm (stock.. etc) as that makes management and workers interests coincide. As for public unions, even FDR has problems with that as it created an inherent conflict of interest where unions could lobby representatives to increase their salaries via congressional fiat. Public unions don't negotiate with corporate management. The negotiate with gov't budget, and use their voting block power to intimidate representatives (NEA, Police, Fire unions.. etc). My view is that public workers, given the better benefits package they receive, should have a salary that better corresponds with the tax base. You can't have public workers making 2-3 times as much as the people they are supposed to serve. and police and prosecutors are part of an economic enterprise that is the FUBARED apolitical "war on drugs." We need to take the "profit motive" out of the criminal justice system. States and local law enforcement receive considerable assistance from the Federal Gov't to incarcerate individuals instead of finding more creative and realistic ways to deal with offenders. I'm all for offenders paying some part of their incarceration and restitution, but we must focus on helping those who what to help themselves to stay clean (or at least not endanger the public by driving drunk). Some people, unfortunately, do not want help... and these are the people we must protect ourselves from. i'm a big believer in following the "spirit of the law", not the letter. People are not machines and their offenses should be judged accordingly. There are predators who seek to exploit and undermine social order by infringing upon the rights of others. But there are also troubled individuals who are dependent upon addictive substances who are screaming for help. Those are the people we have, as you aptly state, an obligation to help, so that they can help themselves. Hawk

To: Cautious_Optimist who wrote (87944)	5/4/2012 11:37:40 AM
From: longnshort	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

so are you still defending Obama over this Chen thingy ? Man has Obama embarrassed the USA, and that's out of the mouth of democrats. he was in our embassy and we let him go. pathetic. So the world knows running to the US embassy won't save you from tyrants. WOW what change