Private Federal Contractors Cost Taxpayers Twice as Much as Civil Servants

[CarlosAndSveta 808]

Who would've thunk it?

http://truth-out.org/news/item/20811-private-federal-contractors-cost-taxpayers-twice-as-much-as-civil-servants

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Privatization of public services was never about saving money or about getting things done better or more efficiently. It was always about re-distributing money from the taxpayer to the corporations. Nothing else. Ever. This is how a government of the corporations, by the corporations and most certainly for the corporations operates. Shouldn't surprise anyone.

Always remember: Corporations are people, my friend. ™

[Danno 1,228]

Anyone who believe the Gov't can do ANYTHING cheaper than the private market is flat out without experience...... Even in the areas of corruption, in the long run it is cheaper to go private firms.

[CarlosAndSveta 808]

Anyone who believe the Gov't can do ANYTHING cheaper than the private market is flat out without experience...... Even in the areas of corruption, in the long run it is cheaper to go private firms.

Anyone who believes what you just said is without experience.

[lostinblue 1,989]

The private sector does 3 times the work , While the government workers are thinking of starting their 3rd cup of coffee for the morning The private sector will have that job almost finished. .Watched it many times.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Not true actually. You can get contract work with a fortune 500 company and make far more money than people who work there full time, with almost no oversight. Fact is there's more scrutiny on becoming a full time employee, earning 1/6 as much.

I've been doing it for nearly a year now.

The public sector can save just as much money as the government, they just have bigger budgets.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Of course the public sector do like to hire consultants at inflated prices, again with no oversight. My old boss was paid £700 a day and he did ####### all.

That's the sort of stuff you should be concerned about, blue. Not fantasy scenarios you've cooked up in your head.

Edited December 24, 2013 by Papa Lazarou

[lostinblue 1,989]

Of course the public sector do like to hire consultants at inflated prices, again with no oversight. My old boss was paid £700 a day and he did ####### all.

That's the sort of stuff you should be concerned about, blue. Not fantasy scenarios you've cooked up in your head.

Concern Troll

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Anyone who believe the Gov't can do ANYTHING cheaper than the private market is flat out without experience...... Even in the areas of corruption, in the long run it is cheaper to go private firms.

That's just too easy. Medicare (gubmint) vs. Medicare Advantage (private enterprise). The latter costs more per beneficiary than the former. And that despite the latter cherry-picking its clientele while the former does not. Funny thing is that MA was created on the false assumption that you tout there, Danno. It was conceived - at least officially - to save the Medicare program money. It failed. And yet it continues despite never having achieved the supposed goal.The privatization of government functions is not about the private sector delivering at a lower cost - it doesn't.

Edited December 24, 2013 by Mr. Big Dog

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Concern Troll

You say the private sector is efficient. That's incorrect.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Blasphemy. Private sector is fire and forget. Once the service is rendered, and the taxpayer pays for the service, the cost to the taxpayer ends. However, the cost to the taxpayer for the same service provided by the government sector, never ends, and continues to grow exponentially.

One factor that does increase the initial cost of services provided to the taxpayer, is when the government specifies what services are to be provided and how those service are to be provided, rather that allowing the market to make that determination. We saw this over and over for military and aerospace contracts. The government specifies an item, and then goes through a bidding process, rather that see what is already available over the counter. The private sector plays along, more money for them. Every now and then a proactive design engineer comes along, rejects the government specifications, and redesigns the project, with the goal of utilizing off the shelf items in the design as much as possible. I knew such an engineer, that designed a communications satellite for the military, with no previous experience in lasers or optics, yet provided a design that consisted of ninety percent items already either in inventory, or available through catalog, that came under budget, on time, and functioned perfectly on deployment.

This is the problem and fallacy of Obamacare. This is as far from a market driven solution as one could get. As insurance companies fail one by one, in order to sustain the model of government mandated/private insurer provided coverage, the taxpayer will be asked to provide larger and larger subsidies. Why does medicare and medicaid seem to work? Only because they are largely subsidized by healthcare industry because of cost controls. Already you see more and more healthcare providers refusing to accept those patients, or in the case of medicaid, only taking those that are most vulnerable, and have the greatest need, usually children.

I blame old people. They are largely responsible for creating this system, and further exploiting the sympathies of the younger generations, because they are selfish greedy old farts that have no problem bankrupting the nation, and they don't have the courtesy of expiring upon retirement. My generation is taking care of these miserable old people as they themselves approach retirement, and are forced to deplete their own resources taking care of parents that refuse to go quietly into the night. It is one heartbreaking story after another as my friends are confronted with the financial burden placed on them by their parents, who already squandered their own sizable fortunes on a frivolous and opulent senior lifestyle.

Edited December 24, 2013 by The Postmaster