Beto - The Consolidated Discussion

[diesel1959]

Agreed and that's fine by me.

The only things the government should be doing are things that are so vital to the common good that we can't live without them (e.g. common defense, mediating international affairs, some legal system, etc.) but that are completely unprofitable and thus can't be done by the private sector.

Winning wars, for example, is expensive, inefficient, and wasteful. Any effective military can be described that way and nobody should care. Why? Because the government should only do jobs where effectiveness trumps all else.

No one cares how frugal and efficient their military is if it loses the war.

It doesn't bother me at all if the government is expensive, inefficient, and wasteful. It bothers me that the government is expensive, inefficient, and wasteful doing jobs it should never have started doing in the first place.

If the government only did the few tasks that governments should do and did them well, no one would complain about expense, inefficiency, and wastefulness.

Mission creep is the evil here. Focus on inefficiency is a meaningless distraction.

The only things the fed.gov ought to be doing are found in Article. I., Section. 8. of the Constitution, along with things attendant to those items. I get quite tired of telling folks that their wish list of "wants/needs" don't mean dick when there's no authority for it.

 

[satx78247]

He won't suspend or drop out because as long as he's in it, he can fundraise and build a war-chest/slush-fund. If the Dems win, he'll be a Cabinet Secretary at the very least, maybe more (which thought makes me ill).

diesel1959,

Let me fix your second sentence for you: "If the DIMs win, after pigs learn to fly, he'll be - - - -- ". = The "smart money" is already pulling out of the DIMocRATS nomination race, as they KNOW that the race for the DIMs is already irretrievably lost for 2020.

yours, satx

 

[benenglish]

The only things the fed.gov ought to be doing are found in Article. I., Section. 8. of the Constitution, along with things attendant to those items.

I thought that was what I said. I was simply amplifying that by pointing out that if the government limited itself to just those things, it could be terribly inefficient and wasteful but so long as it remained effective, no one would complain.

Well, someone always complains about everything but I hope you take my meaning.

 

[oldag]

If arm flailing could make white men fly, Beta would be cruising at about 41,000 feet.

Actually, I think he is flying at about 41,000 feet...

 

[TheMailMan]

You're lucky, MailMan. The VA health centers in Austin, San Antonio and Temple are flat-out dangerous for veterans. And of course you can spend two hours on the phone just trying to set up a simple appointment with a GP - which I personally have had to do. My sister gave up after two hours, then the next day had a three hour call to accomplish the same goal. His GP in Austin was nothing more than a pill pusher - give the old folks meds and keep 'em happy till they die. We transferred him to San Antonio to a new GP who was well-meaning, but wouldn't consult his own notes about his patients, so every visit was like a first visit.

I honestly have had no good experiences with the VA's care for my father other than their optical clinic in Temple (which lost the doctors and the admin that he had been seeing, so that's gone) and the dental clinic in Austin.

A couple of weeks ago, on a Sunday I logged on to MyHealthyVet to set up an appointment with my PCP. The appointment was for the next day at 11:00 in the morning. I don't bother to call.

 

[TheMailMan]

Agreed and that's fine by me.

The only things the government should be doing are things that are so vital to the common good that we can't live without them (e.g. common defense, mediating international affairs, some legal system, etc.) but that are completely unprofitable and thus can't be done by the private sector.

Winning wars, for example, is expensive, inefficient, and wasteful. Any effective military can be described that way and nobody should care. Why? Because the government should only do jobs where effectiveness trumps all else.

No one cares how frugal and efficient their military is if it loses the war.

It doesn't bother me at all if the government is expensive, inefficient, and wasteful. It bothers me that the government is expensive, inefficient, and wasteful doing jobs it should never have started doing in the first place.

If the government only did the few tasks that governments should do and did them well, no one would complain about expense, inefficiency, and wastefulness.

Mission creep is the evil here. Focus on inefficiency is a meaningless distraction.

A postal service is Constitutionally Mandated.

 

[benenglish]

A postal service is Constitutionally Mandated.

Yep. No argument there. There's a reason there's an "etc." in my post.

 

[diesel1959]

A postal service is Constitutionally Mandated.

But government healthcare and government housing are not. And neither is Social Security, but fūcking FDR and Helvering v. Davis, 301 U.S. 619 (1937) screwed this nation bigtime. That case is really lousy precedent and screwed us royally interms of permissible “mission creep” for the fed.gov. Without Helvering, you never get ObamaCare or a whole host of gimmeegotchas.

 

[General Zod]

A couple of weeks ago, on a Sunday I logged on to MyHealthyVet to set up an appointment with my PCP. The appointment was for the next day at 11:00 in the morning. I don't bother to call.

As I said before, you're lucky. I hope for your sake your luck holds out. I had never heard of MyHealthyVet when I was helping care for my father. He died in 2017. If there is now an online service to bypass the telephone tag and terminal hold, hey great. It shouldn't be needed, though. People charged with delivering healthcare should do their damn jobs.

I'm not sure why you're on this little crusade to defend the rampant VA incompetence that I encountered for a solid seven years when my sister and I were overseeing my dad's care, or the malpractice that would've killed him if his civilian cardiologist hadn't caught a serious problem, but you do you, ok? I'm happy things are working out for you.

Not everyone gets to enjoy a competent level of care. I'm far from the only one who's got horror stories of the VA, and if you think they're a model for everyone's healthcare that should be granted by a supposedly benevolent government, you're a fool.

 

[TheMailMan]

MyHealthyVet has been around for years. There are signs about it plastered all over every VA clinic and hospital I've been in.

I'm not on a crusade nor am I a fool. Personally I'd like the VA healthcare system to be reformed. Instead of going to the VA a Veteran should be able to go to a local doctor and have the VA pay.

People have horror stories about any large organization. When we lived in Portland we had Kaiser. I preferred to use the VA. I could get appointments quicker, the doctors spent more time with you, and I felt they cared more.

 

[Coiled]

.
During tonight's debate.

 

[easy rider]

MEH, Pandering.

 

[benenglish]

Video is already unavailable. What happened?

 

[Army 1911]

some people said sume stuff.

But don't try to hold them accountable, you racists. They're demoncrats and totally blameless.

 

[Coiled]

Video is already unavailable. What happened?

Yanked before 0500 when I looked.
Same vid, different link.



I am not responsible FOR slavery or liable TO anyone for it's existance. SJL, Beto et.al. can suck my nether regions.

 

[TX OMFS]

A postal service is Constitutionally Mandated.

No it's not. It's constitutionally allowed.

https://about.usps.com/publications/pub100/pub100_005.htm

 

[roadkill]

Someone needs to talk to Beto about Jim Crow and gun control laws. Lots of the gun laws they like sure have a lot of roots in Jim Crow.

 

[oldag]

Yanked before 0500 when I looked.
Same vid, different link.



I am not responsible FOR slavery or liable TO anyone for it's existance. SJL, Beto et.al. can suck my nether regions.

Pure BS, and factually incorrect.

 

[Charlie]

IMHO, Bee Toe is still an idiot!

 

[benenglish]

I will sing into law Sheila Jackson Lee's reparations bill...

Wow. Just...wow. I'm speechless.