A Washington Post article today is claiming that private debt collectors, hired by the IRS to pursue debtors, cost more than they bring in! Well isn’t THAT rich?! And I mean RICH, like richer than Dick Cheney with an army of convicts & thieves Rich (LOL, wait a minute, isn’t that the Bush Administration). As Progressives, this relationship between privatization and nationalization is complex and important. Nationalizing seems to let wealth waste away while privatizing TAKES maximum wealth away. The true answer must lie somewhere in the middle.
It’s funny, because this very topic came up the other day. While it wasn’t the IRS, it was the local Los Angeles city government, which pursued an associate of mine for thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes. The math didn’t add up, and when this person called, the city was forced to take a second look, which uncovered that, indeed, their math was wrong. Not just wrong, however, THEY ADDED AN EXTRA ZERO by complete mistake! DOH! How come they never forget to plus or minus a zero in our favor? I was wondering if it ended up costing the government more than it took in to bother all these people. I put it out of my mind, realizing that the local city’s debt collection methods did not rival that of an actual collection agency, which spends money and time to harass debtors. Well apparently someone else thought the same thing and was in a position to get a contract.
Doesn’t this just underscore, everything that’s wrong with the Republican philosophy? Government is slow, bulky and inefficient, that’s no lie, however a government which contracts out work to private enterprise has proven that it’s even worse. It’s a cesspool of corruption, prime for Dick Cheney’s pals to step in and “handle†the taxpayer money with maximum corporate efficiency. Taxpayer money disappears with very little to show for it, just like Iraq. Isn’t it becoming more prevalent that Bush & Cheney have been busy ruining this country as well? Just like New Orleans, government contracts cost the country billions, have little interest in anything other than making money and often fail at the very job they were hired to do.
I don’t know if you’ve been hearing about this bizarre Texas polygamy clan, where almost 416 children were recently seized, however I’m willing to bet that no matter what, you did NOT hear who paid for the whacko polygamous organization to thrive, the American taxpayer! NBC uncovered, in a grand display of Pentagon judgment, evidence that Pentagon contracts were awarded to front operation of The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (try fitting that on a sign). Bush & Cheney’s grand plans for privatization funded polygamy in his own adopted state of Texas! It all comes full circle, doesn’t it Georgie!
Privatization doesn’t work! Just ask the millions of Latin American citizens who saw their resources extracted from their land with nothing to show for it. Or ask the multitude of American Indian tribes, such as Hopi, Navajo or Lakota nations who despite having many resources remain in crippling poverty.
Corporations do not have a nationality. This is something most Americans don’t get. Corporations care about only one thing, making more money. Like termites, they eat through a nation’s resources, including labor, until they’re gone. Then they pick up and leave looking for more potential opportunities. In the case of privatization for contracts like debt collection, they act more like leeches, sucking up the precious money, all of it, learning how the flawed Treasury Department system can be abused to their benefit, making pals with Congressmen, threatening to go out of business and cost jobs and votes. In the end they’re worse than leeches, they’re the kind of leeches monks used to cure illness. Ultimately, they achieve nothing.
What’s sad about the IRS, however, is that this is the Government’s money making machine. Without the IRS, the Federal Government would shut down tomorrow. In other words the corporate leeches have found a way to extract money from the government before they even get it!
Progressives must weigh in this harsh reality, as we begin to ramp up for the Second Progressive Revolution, already in the making. The time of privatization is coming to an end. As the power slips from the fingers of the Republicans, we must be ready to take the helm and do what is best for America, not what is best for Dick Cheney’s pals.