Perverting the American Dream

There are times that private industry is more efficient than government. That doesn't always make it the right solution. Businesses are there to make money. That’s the only scorecard in capitalism. If a business provides something that you want, it is so that they can make a profit. That's how the system works. Normally, it's not a big deal. We can often forget that, because businesses can be so useful. It becomes very important when we talk about privatizing things like FEMA. The Federal Emergency Management Agency's job is to take care of Americans when disasters have struck. I have friends who live in rural areas. It’s hard for them to get services like cable. It's not profitable for the cable company to run lines to their homes. I have known people who were denied needed medical insurance. Again, companies felt it wasn't profitable to cover them, leaving them both ill and broke. Can you imagine a privatized FEMA determining how profitable it would be to rescue someone? An America where it's okay to make money from the misery of others? That is a perversion of the American dream.

The Price of Political Favors

There’s something horribly wrong when Wal-Mart gets to a disaster area before the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Of course, Wal-Mart is successful because it is efficient. Sam Walton, its founder and perhaps the shrewdest businessman in the late 20th century, knew that efficiency is the way to profit. He made sure that he hired the best people for the job. George W. Bush, who spent his career running failing businesses, nominated Michael D. Brown to run FEMA back in 2003. Most of his work experience was working for the International Arabian Horse Association. He also happened to be a college roommate of Bush's 2000 campaign coordinator. It's not surprising that Wal-Mart made it to the disaster areas first. They hire the right guy for the right job - and Bush sure didn't. So what was wrong with FEMA? It wasn't the system. It was George W. Bush. He was thinking about political favors instead of thinking of the good of the nation. Of course that leads to problems. It's only horse sense.