[barmar]

PassedOut, on 2013-October-28, 12:18, said:

I do mean it (and I'm not knocking corporations particularly) based on many years of experience in business, including some doing contract work for the US government. And I can say definitely that I have changed my opinion from the opinion I had when I was starting out.

It's not necessarily the case that providing better service to customers results in more profit in the short term, and quarterly reports drive stock prices. When the founders of a company leave or die off, I've seen a tendency for long-term planning to slip. The incentives for managers tie in closely with short-term results.

To me, it makes more sense to talk about the incentives of the folks running corporations and of those running government agencies than it does to talk about the incentives of the organizations they run. Alan Greenspan was surprised to find that the long-term health of a corporation was not the greatest incentive for the managers running it. I'm not sure what world he was living in, but it wasn't the real one. I don't mean to denigrate all corporate managers -- there are some really fine people everywhere I've been. But they do not have it easy, mostly because of the pressure of short-term thinking.

I certainly didn't intend to imply that private businesses always get things right. It's just not clear that governments usually do better.

[PassedOut]

barmar, on 2013-October-30, 15:14, said:

I certainly didn't intend to imply that private businesses always get things right. It's just not clear that governments usually do better.

Yes, it's not really something one can measure one way or the other.

From smaller companies, especially those with a sharp founder still in charge, I do expect better operation than from the government. But for large, publicly traded, companies, I expect the opposite. Everyone has different experiences of course, so perceptions naturally vary. I'm just speaking of my own expectations here (which, of course, are bound to be on the mark).

[mike777]

PassedOut, on 2013-October-30, 15:35, said:

Yes, it's not really something one can measure one way or the other.

From smaller companies, especially those with a sharp founder still in charge, I do expect better operation than from the government. But for large, publicly traded, companies, I expect the opposite. Everyone has different experiences of course, so perceptions naturally vary. I'm just speaking of my own expectations here (which, of course, are bound to be on the mark).

That explains much. Once you expect better run operations for the most part from the government than the private sector that is a powerful argument to give the government more economic power and move control out of the private sector. In any event we do need to define and measure it.


A big issue is that governments may be defined and measured on how fair or just or the greater good, corporations on profits or cash flow or return on investment.

[inquiry]

kenberg, on 2013-October-30, 08:52, said:

For premium increases, I agree we need to be cautious about where to lay the blame. But I think these cancellations are a real political threat.

Suppose I get a notice from my insurance company telling me that since the coverage I have does not meet ACA requirements, it is being cancelled. I learn that the ACA will help me get better insurance and I go to the website. It doesn't work. I ask around and find that the government really thinks that maybe they can get the website up and working properly, or at least pretty much so, by the end of November. Huh? My insurance will be cancelled at the end of December and the government thinks that maybe they can get the website operating by the end of November? That's cutting it a bit close.

I am sure many Tea Party Republicans still do not understand the massive public backlash against them. Democrats claim to be brighter. If so, now would be a good time to demonstrate this.

If you are at all worried, perhaps you should find out more about the ACA. You state you live in northern Maryland well in that case, you DON'T NEED AND SHOULDN'T USE THE federal insurance exchange. Instead, you should use Maryland's state insurance exchange... here let me help you out, it is at http://www.marylandh...connection.gov/

[kenberg]

inquiry, on 2013-October-30, 17:06, said:

If you are at all worried, perhaps you should find out more about the ACA. You state you live in northern Maryland well in that case, you DON'T NEED AND SHOULDN'T USE THE federal insurance exchange. Instead, you should use Maryland's state insurance exchange... here let me help you out, it is at http://www.marylandh...connection.gov/

i'm pretty sure that I have said that as far as I know I don't need to do anything with regard to the ACA. I have Medicare, and I have good supplemental insurance. I'm not rich but I doubt that I qualify for financial help. So I think I am not a principal. I'm a citizen, and I want to see this succeed.

At a personal level, I am optimistic. Partly this is habit. My life has gome reasonably well, I have gotten used to it going well, I expect it to continue. Any 74 year old recognizes it won't go on forever, but I don't sit around expecting personal disaster. At the political level, large scale, long term, I am far more pessimistic. It would take far more time and space than I want to use right now, but I think that collectively we are not in such great shape.

But my health is mostly good, and my insurance seems to be in good shape. The kids are all right. What, me worry?

[blackshoe]

ArtK78, on 2013-October-30, 09:02, said:

The ACA website will be fixed before too long

I understand what you're saying but this is an unfortunate choice of words, since it's already been too long.

[y66]

kenberg, on 2013-October-01, 13:02, said:

I am hearing that the Democrats shut down the government!

If the shut down works out well, historians will say it was a brilliant and courageous Republican action.

If the shut down works out badly, historians will say that it was a stupid and reckless Republican action.

There is no chance in Hell or anywhere else that shutting down the government will come to be seen as a Democratic action.

If Republicans are not prepared to stand up and shout "We did it, we did it and we are proud that we did it" then maybe they shouldn't have done it.

These guys get weirder by the day.

Guest post by John Boehner:

Quote

“They are not fighting for conservative principles,” Mr. Boehner told rank-and-file House Republicans during a private meeting on Wednesday as he seethed and questioned the motives of the groups for piling on against the plan before it was even made public.

“They are not fighting for conservative policy,” he continued, according to accounts of those present. “They are fighting to expand their lists, raise more money and grow their organizations, and they are using you to do it. It’s ridiculous.”

Representatives of the activist groups dismissed that assertion and called the speaker’s denunciation a diversion tactic.

Still, Mr. Boehner’s tough talk in taking on interests considered vital to generating Republican voter enthusiasm and building fierce opposition to President Obama’s agenda appeared to represent a turning point in Republican coalition building in the aftermath of the government shutdown.

His break with the groups was magnified because it came after Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, had condemned a conservative group that has backed one of his opponents. And Mr. Boehner went on the offensive just as the executive director of the Republican Study Committee, the main organization for House conservatives, was dismissed, adding to the appearance that ties between the activist right and elected Republicans were unraveling.

Republican congressional leaders blame advocacy groups like Heritage Action for America and the Senate Conservatives Fund for the shutdown — for goading House and Senate Republicans into a dead-end insistence on financing the government only if the new health law was overturned. The predictable impasse over that demand and the eventual Republican capitulation damaged the standing of Republicans as well as Congress.

“The shutdown was the first time a group largely drove the Republican Party in the Senate towards something that was disadvantageous,” said one top Republican Senate official.

In addition, some congressional leaders are no longer willing to remain silent to avoid antagonizing important political partners. They have seen a clear downside to the rising influence of outside conservative organizations that promote divisive primary fights, producing flawed candidates who lose winnable seats to Democrats.

The 2014 election cycle probably represents Mr. McConnell’s last chance to regain the title of majority leader, and he seems determined not to let conservative activists spoil his chances. His actions and comments both publicly and privately since the shutdown have shown that he does not intend to brook much interference from conservative activists.

Just as important, Mr. McConnell does not want to regain the majority only to find himself surrounded by conservative firebrands like Representative Steve Stockman of Texas, who is now challenging Senator John Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican. Mr. Boehner has proved that presiding over an ungovernable majority is not an enviable job.

Seeming to relish his new liberation, Mr. Boehner on Thursday skewered the organizations for a second straight day, just a few hours before the House overwhelmingly approved the budget plan at the center of the dispute with the support of 169 Republicans. Sixty-two opposed it.

“They’re pushing our members in places where they don’t want to be,” Mr. Boehner said. “And frankly, I just think that they’ve lost all credibility.”

[PassedOut]

Yes that was good news from John Boehner. I sent him a message of approval.

[kenberg]

Who knows, maybe acting sensible could be a real vote getter. Stranger things have happened.

[Winstonm]

kenberg, on 2013-December-14, 15:34, said:

Who knows, maybe acting sensible could be a real vote getter. Stranger things have happened.

I doubt that would work in Texas.