[josephg]

> I think he had a point that when you let government control something it is the worst kind of monopoly and the quality is bound go down the drain. Whether it VA affairs, public education or IRS.

Thats not necessarily true. Certainly outside the US there are many, many public institutions which do fantastic work. The ABC here in Australia and the BBC in the UK produce great television. The ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) are highly regarded here, as was CSIRO before the government gutted their funding (CSIRO is an Australian government research group which invented parts of wifi).

I don't know if the reputation US government agencies have for incompetence is real or due to media spin, but the problem is obviously not inevitable. To quote Bill Clinton: "The problem with ideology is that it gives you the answer before you've asked the question".

[tn13]

>"The problem with ideology is that it gives you the answer before you've asked the question".

Yupp. Looking at checks signed by other helps make the decision lot quicker.

> BBC in the UK produce great television.

What for ? At what cost to public taxpayer ? Is it even needed to be run using taxpayer money ?

[shard972]

> The ABC here in Australia

As an Australian, aside from their news which last I checked doesn't get the same kind of views as the private companies I would disagree.

Maybe the parents enjoy ABC1 or whatever plays kids shows all day but I find the quality of their original shows to be quite poor and their flagships like QANDA have really gone off the rails in the last few years.

[8note]

in Canada, the CBC was pretty great until the conservatives annihilated their budget. In that time, they lost the license to the theme of their flagship show, Hockey Nightnin Canada, and after that, the show itself. Also, they lost the rights to report the olympics, and the news is much lower quality.

its almost like public services dont work well when you defund them.