Public Work Should Be Done By The Public Sector

A recent article - Waukesha's Zignego Co. lowest bidder at $87M for Highway 50 road project - made me again think of the delusional efficient private sector viewpoint. 

Conservatives and wannabe-economists have, for years, pounded the private sector efficiency drumbeat. Sadly, this perspective is as misguided today as it's ever been.

For the majority of private sector actors, the modus operandi has been to cut corners, pay workers less and/or to simply not do certain tasks altogether. 

For Further Reading:

The Lean Efficiency (And Persistence) Of Private Sector Lies

Privatization, Increased Costs And Income Inequality

Fizzle for the buck

Why public–private partnerships or other ‘innovative’ financing of infrastructure will not save taxpayers money

And The Winner Is....The Public Sector

Myth: The Private Sector is More Efficient Than the Public Sector

Why taxpayers are getting a bargain from public-sector workers

A Message To Trump Supporters Dealing With The Loss Of Their Dear Leader

So here's the deal for all the anti-science, racist, misogynistic, road-blocking, gun-totting, know-nothing, taunting, harassing, hate-spewing, douchebag Trump supporters and voters ... go fuck yourselves!

Now, to live up to all the bullshit you emit into the world, to uphold your anti-socialism blather, your anti-government rhetoric: 

stop relying on police and fire fighters

refuse Medicare and Social Security 

stop driving on the roads

stop using trains and airports

pull your children out of public schools

stop collecting your farm subsidies

stop using food stamps 

don't you dare set foot in a public museum, a public park or a zoo

plow your own roads

clear your own sewage

light your own streets

(to name a few) 

But most of all, and I repeat, go fuck yourselves!!! 

Income Tax Around The World

The U.S. is not a high-tax country. Our wages are low. We have extreme income inequality. And, our infrastructure is crumbling. Yet, we keep voting dipshits into office whom continue to cut taxes for the wealthy and big corporations. 

[source]

Why Government Is Good

Sunday Reading

North Woods For Sale?
Democrats Won The Most Votes In The Election. They Should Act Like It.
Wisconsin's GOP-Drawn Legislative Districts Unconstitutional
13 Most Amazing Findings In The 2016 Exit Poll
GOP's Attack On Voting Right Was The Most Under-covered Story Of 2016
Stop Perpetuating The Myth Of Voter Fraud To Distract From The Reality Of Massive Voter Suppression

Mitchell Park Domes

It's time to re-imagine the Mitchell Park Domes

If we can spend $250 million in public funds on a basketball arena whose owners will charge us dearly to enter, surely we can invest a much smaller amount in a green wonderland that’s truly public.

The IRS

Sunday Reading

The Forty-Year Slump
The Disruption Machine
The Voluntarism Fantasy
The Plot Against Public Education
Here's How Climate Change Has Altered Life On Earth In The Past 20 Years
Selling Fast: Public Goods, Profits, And State Legitimacy
Shrinking The Financial Sector Will Make Us All Richer
U.S. Adds 321,000 Jobs, The Most In Nearly 3 Years
Which City Has The Most Unpredictable Weather?

The Real Moochers

As usual, the biggest government moochers are the well-connected, not the downtrodden:

• Cliven Bundy is part of a long tradition: corporate mooching
• New GAO Report: Federal Government Not Collecting a "Fair Return" from Drilling on Public Lands
• Government Accountability Office: Taxpayers Getting Stiffed by Flawed Federal Coal Lease System
• Unfair Share: How Oil and Gas Drillers Avoid Paying Royalties
• Step right up, Big Coal, for America’s Big Coal Giveaway
• A Sweetheart Deal For Big Coal Is A Slap In The Face To American Families
• A Fair Share: The Case of Updating Federal Royalties
• A Comparison of the Share of Revenue Received from Oil and Gas Production by the Federal Government and Other Resource Owners
• The Public's Airwaves
• The Price of Free Airwaves
• The Sorry State of Corporate Taxes
• The U.S. Has A Low Corporate Tax

Walker Selling Wisconsin

Developer wrote Scott Walker expressing interest in buying state buildings

One of Wisconsin's largest real estate developers wrote to Gov. Scott Walker to express his interest in buying several prominent state office buildings at the same time the Legislature was considering doing away with competitive bidding for such sales, according to newly released records. 

Terrence Wall offered his cellphone number in the letter, urging that the "appropriate person" call him to discuss possible deals for properties including the State Crime Laboratory, records obtained by The Associated Press show. Wall also offered his support for the change in the bidding process, an idea that originated with Walker. 

Wall sent the letter on June 10. The Republican-controlled Legislature agreed 11 days later to allow no-bid sales of state properties over the objection of Democrats, who argued that it opened the door for political cronies to be cut special deals...

Walker called for legalizing no-bid sales of state properties in the budget he proposed in February. The Republican-controlled Legislature agreed in June, after adding a requirement that any sale negotiated by the governor be approved by the budget committee. The state Building Commission, which Walker chairs and is controlled by Republicans, would also have to approve.

 Stay classy, Scotty.