Which Moloch are you talking about Mec?

The ancient Ammonite deity or the US' Military-Industrial Complex?

Mar 27, 2012 -- 12:31PM, catboxer wrote:

This is nothing short of a takeover of government at the state level by a monied oligarchy.

From the Krugman piece.

Many ALEC-drafted bills pursue standard conservative goals: union-busting, undermining environmental protection, tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. ALEC seems, however, to have a special interest in privatization — that is, on turning the provision of public services, from schools to prisons, over to for-profit corporations. And some of the most prominent beneficiaries of privatization, such as the online education company K12 Inc. and the prison operator Corrections Corporation of America, are, not surprisingly, very much involved with the organization.

What this tells us, in turn, is that ALEC’s claim to stand for limited government and free markets is deeply misleading. To a large extent the organization seeks not limited government but privatized government, in which corporations get their profits from taxpayer dollars, dollars steered their way by friendly politicians. In short, ALEC isn’t so much about promoting free markets as it is about expanding crony capitalism.

This is opinion of course, but bolstered by facts.

I know. Facts are stupid things.

Cat,

You are going to have to believe me on this:

I have been working for various levels of Government for over 30 years and it is my experience that there is less satisfaction and more cost with privatized agencies rather than having the Government handle such matters themselves.  Take a look at at the Postal Service, which was the one thing that the Constitution mandated Civil Government to attend to. Since it has been privatized, we have mail services slashed while we pay more and more for less service.

What scares the hell out of me is having schools being totally privatized and having those who cannot afford to pay for their kid's schooling doing  completely without. The privatization of prisons and contracting security duties to private corporations like Blackwater and Wackenhut or whatever they now call themselves would be catastrophic. If these mercenaries and rent a cops have their way the atrocities perpetrated in Baghdad will be perpetrated in Boston and Baton Rouge and our people will not have the Constitutional protections like they would if regular military and police ran the show. The same would go for prisons, it would be a civil liberties nightmare.

Some things belong in the hands of the Government alone!