Stale Talking Points - 50% Off

Just think, not to long ago what follows passed for insightful political commentary. Look how flat it falls now:

Socialism doesn’t work

I would like to correct Dave Forstrom’s assertion that “some socialist things work” (letters, March 24).

Socialism in every part of the world has always and will always fail. It takes away a person’s motivation to better themselves and others. It takes away personal responsibility and accountability. It forces people to rely on the government to provide many of the services that private industry can efficiently provide.

Not only that, but government fails at almost everything they do barring national security against foreign and domestic enemies. That’s all our founding fathers wanted out of government and that’s how America became the empire that she is. Forstrom provides a few examples of government programs and claims that they work. I beg to differ.

It has been reported that 30 to 50 cents of every dollar Medicare receives goes to waste. Social Security is going bankrupt, the post office is losing billions of dollars a year, Amtrak is bailed out year after year with taxpayer dollars, OLCC costs more to run than it earns, public schools are failing to educate and are controlled by teachers unions and it takes four public works employees to do the job of one.

All of the above can be run by private institutions more efficiently and more effectively.

Yes, government can provide services but, outside of a very few, limited areas, they just cannot compete against private companies. As the great Ronald Reagan once said, “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is our problem.”

Mike Hoselton

Eugene