Can you Name a Single Successful Government Program?

[LastPoet]

You know, he probably has a response to this, odds are, it'd something along the lines of this:

Oh, I know that is ultimately futile Rev, but since it was just a simple short sentence, mabe someone out there might learn something. I won't expect it from Koolay, his political maturity is at the level of a rebelious 15 y.o.

[Crossless2.0]

Koolay, I submit that the U.S. Interstate Highway program has been a resounding (and business-friendly) success:

http://www.publicpurpose.com/freeway1.htm

[Koolay]

And why can't they afford healthcare?

Because medical costs are totally outrageous in this country, insurance companies only want to pay for so much care, and we have no universal health care which would take care of the need for Medicare.

You really think someone making $10 an hour can afford the costs of treatment for a major medical problem? Not to mention someone who's retired and living on a fixed income, and older which means they'll likely need more medical care?

Insurance 'companies' are essentially a branch of the government, they are so subsidies and regulated, it's virtually unrecognisable as the free market.

Before government got it's claws into healthcare, it was actually good, and affordable for poor people. A day's wage of the average worker could provide a years coverage of health insurance in the private collectives called friendly societies.

http://wiki.mises.org/wiki/Friendly_society

Healthcare is not actually expensive, it's very cheap in reality.

So you have violated one of my rules, Government cures a problem it created in the first place.

[Silver]

Healthcare is not actually expensive, it's very cheap in reality.

This is indeed, true. Good job of attempting to convince doctors that they should be paid less than they are, however. Greedy bastards.

[Doubting Thomas]

Sorry, but insurance companies are not a branch of the government. Getting subsidies and being regulated does not make an industry part of government, or else just about every industry out there is part of government.

[Anomalocaris]

You are living proof that libertarians are fucking idiots.

What does that make me then?

Someone who lack the wits to not ask this question.

[Raeven]

I'm serious, show me one single successful government program or law, and I will accept the government as valid.

The welfare state, since it's inception has created a higher wealth gap and higher unemployment than when it started.

The "War on drugs" has not changed people's use of recreational drugs, it has remained exactly the same, the only difference is some people are thrown in cages for owning a plant and thousands of dollars are taken from each citizen in tax money.

Public schools, when it was first introduced, literacy rates went down.

"The War on Terror" boils down to bombing hundreds of thousands of brown people, many civilians. Which is terrorism by definition, bombing civilians houses is terrorism.

Making it illegal to work for low wages (shockingly!) made it worse for the poor. higher unemployment particularly with minorities and youth.

Everything the government claims they will achieve, the opposite happens. So please, I implore you, find me any government program that has worked.

The rules:

- The program's results has to coincide with what the government claims they are going to achieve.

- It can not be curing a problem they created in the first place. I.e, taking everyone's money to fund a war then giving them rations while saying "We would be starving without the government" is not acceptable.

- The evidence has to be outside of government studies. Any studies from the government will not be accepted. It's like expecting objective information about coca-cola products from coca-cola. It's obviously going to be biased.

You want to make this a simple issue, and it isn't.

First, demonstrate your own literacy by learning when to include an apostrophe in the word, 'its'. If you can't say, "it is" when you include an apostrophe, you've got it wrong, buccaroo. "It's (it is) time to take a bath." <-- correct. "It's (it is) fur was dirty." <-- incorrect. See?

By what measure is a program "successful?"

Medicare by most measures is a successful program.

Social Security was a successful social safety net for many years, until Congress critters began raiding it to fund other programs and the populace at large began to view it and use it as a retirement fund. That was never its intent. It can be successful again, however, with some tweaks. Remember making fun of Al Gore and his "lockbox?" This is what he meant. It's (it is) still funny to remember how he said "lockbox," though, huh?

The freeway system you use, the electrical grid system through which travels the electricity powering your computer and enabling you to publish your opinions on this forum... successful government programs built those.

School lunch programs and food stamps feed millions of people who once went hungry. Successful if you're one of the poverty-stricken. If you hate people who are down on their luck, maybe not successful by your measure.

The "War on Terror" was a term swallowed only by idiots who were unable to discern that you can't have a war against a tactic. If you didn't see that from the beginning, then shame on you.

Similarly, the "War on Drugs" was a nice talking point -- but no one should ever have seriously thought of it as a "war." Language matters. As for its success, we're big on treating symptoms in this country, not causes. Every administration has failed on this one. Taking on the drug lords is a recipe for failure (symptom). Destroying demand for drugs would be much more successful (cause).

The issues behind public education are complex, not easily reduced to casual sound bites regarding "success" and "failure." Public schools are failing for many, many reasons. Ignorant parents is one of the chief reasons, in my view. It isn't a question of funding; rather, it's a question of means testing; where the emphasis on learning is placed; what curricula are taught. For instance, I was shocked to find that the theory (oh, let's admit it -- fact) of evolution is hardly any longer taught in public schools. There are no words. Why might that be? Again, don't concern yourself with the symptom. Identify the cause(s). They are many.

And seriously? You don't think laws protect you? I'll try and remember that the next time a cop ignores a drunk driver who then kills someone with his car.

[Doubting Thomas]

Apparently the nation's mental health system is a failure, because instead of keeping the mentally insane in institutions where they can be cared for, they're now roaming the internet with usernames like Koolay.

[Raeven]

You really need to do a lot more research on the health care issue. Some facts:
1. The USA ranks 50th in mortality rates;
2. We spend 8k annually per person for health care in this country, v. 3k in other developed countries;
3. 63% of people in bankruptcy are there because of medical crises.

That's just for openers. The main thing that the health insurance companies are protesting is that only 20% of insurance premiums can now be used for overhead and profit -- instead of the traditional 40%. The 1% can't make more dividends from the suffering of sick people.

It's a stupid system that makes workers dependent on a job for health care coverage and allows investors to make money off people who are sick or injured. Remove the profit motive, and you'll have the beginnings of a reasonable national health care system. The ACA is trying to do this, but health care is a behemoth... it will take more decades than I will live to fix this problem. The ACA was always half a loaf... a good start, but by no means a complete fix.

[Captain Colostomy]

Koolay-

Try addressing some of the other respondents answers, too, not just the ones you have a hissy fit prepared for. Otherwise, stop your shit and just go back to suckling momma's tit, you ninny.