Government Doesn't Work?

There's this noise I've heard from the "right" about how much better business is than government. I recently heard the Libertarian Party's candidate for President Bob Barr on NPR's Talk of the Nation claim (unchallenged) that FEMA's abject failure during Katrina was proof that private business was more efficient than the government. The glaring error in this idea is that FEMA was a fantastically effective organization pre-Bush. What Katrina proved is not that government doesn't work, it proves that right wing government doesn't work, especially government under Republicans. It proves that a government agency that is filled with political hacks and cronies rather than trained professionals doesn't work. Katrina proves that Republicans (and by extension all right wingers) can't do anything right.


Barr also made the incredibly inane statement that private industry and individuals are better at caring for the poor and weak than government and went so far as to claim that during the Great Depression they did a better job than the government is doing now. First of all this is just false. During the Great Depression people were starving to death,

losing what little they did own, were being beaten and killed for organizing, and were forced to migrate far from home.

The wealthy didn't do shit to help the poor and they continue to do nothing. Secondly, the reason our welfare state is broken is because people like Bob Barr broke it! If it were left in the hands of progressives it could work, just as universal healthcare can work, just as liberal drug policies work, and just as diplomacy and support works better than sanctions and war.

Government of, by, and for the people can work wonders. Government of, by, and for the ultra-wealthy conservatives works wonders for the ultra-wealthy and fucks the rest of us. It is time to start calling these people out when they spout this kind of bullshit. It would be really nice if people like Neal Conan would grow some balls and challenge lunatics like Barr when they make absurd, ludicrous, and utterly false statements. I'm not holding my breath because Neal Conan and his limp wristed brethren are too busy getting ready for the next break to stop and ask questions or allow listeners to call in with objections.