thinkprogress.org — A new report by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform concludes that, under the Bush administration, the “shadow government of private companies working under federal contract has exploded in size.
Jun 27, 2007 View in Crawl 4
Closed AccountJun 28, 2007
Absolutely right. Halliburton is a prime example.
tehxen3Jun 28, 2007
The most efficient way to allocate resources and get things done is though private sector. I really don't understand all the whining here, there is no basis to consider this a corrupt scheme to enrich those involved. It would be no different if government itself employed people and performed those functions than through private sector, only way more inefficient and poorly done.This isn't Soviet Union, more government and army functions should be privatized and exposed to market competition. Using this bizarre logic outlined here, everyone in the army hierarchy is a "war profiteer" from the private to defense minister just because they receive a pay.Should everyone in the armed forces become a slave laborer and receive no financial compensation just so you bizarre socialists deem it holy enough for your standards?
swrostmoreJun 28, 2007
on the contrary, there is extensive basis to consider this a corrupt scheme to enrich those involved. More efficient? That's laughable. Bush appointed his corporate buddies to run FEMA, do you call the destruction of New Orleans "efficient?" Maybe if you are the privte security firm Blackwater, who was given a no-bid contract to guard FEMA facilities after Katrina - and who overcharged the US taxpayer millions for their services. Speaking of overcharges, practically every private company in Iraq has been convicted of ripping off the taxpayer (efficiently), but the Bush regime doesn't care - they are STILL awarding Halliburton/KBR/CACI/Titan no-bids. The interrogators in the Abu Ghraib photos were working for a private contractor (CACI), do you consider torture to be "efficient?" Speaking of no-bid contracts, how does that fit into your grand plan of "market competition?" The profit motive should NEVER be involved in warfare, what about that is so hard to understand by you bizarre corporatist/fascist/capitalists?
fuzzmeisterJun 28, 2007
Many of those are not true about the US. For example, the mass media is not controlled, it is just spineless. In true fascism, the state itself would run the media, and all alternate media sources would be banned. Also, I do not see things such as "disdain for intellectuals or the arts", or "rampant sexism". However, we definitely do have things like "obsession with national security" and "disdain for the recognition of human rights".
stepnw1fJun 29, 2007
The same poster does this s**t everytime ... talk about "automatic".
stepnw1fJun 29, 2007
Struck a nerve with you, didn't it? Maybe that's because you republicans today are more fascist than conservative afterall. Freedom is free... I don't need to ask for it, god gave it to me at birth, but you want me and others around you to believe we owe something, when we don't owe s**t! Those trying to take away our freedoms happen to be the very folks you voted for (Republicans) all out of FEAR! Coming from you, the word "freedom" is just another flag made in China, FAKE.
stepnw1fJun 29, 2007
Actually the media is PRIVATELY OWNED. That means, they air what they want when they want, and so far they have proven beyond a doubt that they are more interested in not making waves for their business interests at the expense of an uniformed or misinformed public.