Letters to the Editor
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What's wrong with privatization?
The article quotes: "This administration, besides the cronyism, they have this ideologue thing that government is bad and privatization is good,"
It seems to me that Salon has the bias that privitazation is bad and government good. I worked for the Federal Gov't. 3 months was all I could stand. Never again have I encountered a workplace with more stupid rules and less effort at getting the job done. I've spent a fair amount of my career working for Gov't contractors (not anything to do with the VA or DOD). Based on my experience,I find it easy to believe that contracting out work to for-profit companies is a more effiecient and effective way to deliver services.
My parents are on Medicare. Their health care is delivered by an HMO, not the Gov't. They get SUPERB care. I've been a consumer of health care in 4 countries, including England's NHS. And my parents get by far the best care. The clinic my father was in makes the NHS hospitals look half way to the third world.
In any situation, Gov't or private, non-profit or for-profit, needs to have accountability. Effective methods to measure performance.
The article didn't provide any evidence to suggest that the contracts to QTC were not adequately reviewed. The US Gov't has a huge number of contractors in just about every branch. Are you suggesting to nationalize it all?
As a final point, Blackwater is a red herring. It's a disgrace, but operating where bullets and IEDs are flying is a completely different situation than operating in the US.