Our
View: Government leads us in circles
It's
hard to believe that the government is still
arguing that privatization and deregulation
are the waves of the future. Between the
new Medicare bill that is waiting to get
passed in the legislature and the World
Trade Organization dictating to the United
States what it can and cannot due, you'd
think people would wake up and see the circular
logic at work.
Maybe
now the United States will feel the coldness
and inhumanity of the WTO as so many other
poor and developing nations have. The systems
put in place to help protect the domestic
economy in nations are considered "illegal"
by the organization, what do they know about
justice? All they can see is money, and
whenever a nation tries to put a mechanism
in place, they figure out a way to undermine
it.
Many
nations use tariffs on foreign goods to
protect the domestic market. And someone
always feels like it is a bum deal, whether
it's the automotive workers who blame expensive
steel on the loss of jobs, or the automotive
producers who feel gypped because they have
to pay more for steel.
When
one union, the Automotive Workers Union,
goes against another union, the steelworkers
union, it creates a scarcity mentality.
The scarcity mentality breeds fear that
there isn't enough to go around; and while
maybe not everyone can live like a Rockefeller,
in a nation as wealthy as the United States,
you would think that two different industries,
related by material, would both be able
to prosper.
But
the WTO, our little buddy, says it's illegal
to have tariffs. Well, if that doesn't just
beat the band. The WTO, which goes around
to smaller nations, decimating their domestic
markets, but it's illegal for the United
States to use a tariff on one small part
of the industry.
The
new Medicare bill is a whole different issue.
The proponents for the new Medicare bill
swear that bringing privatization to the
health care system for senior citizens will
make it a more competitive system. But,
some businesses that have already been involved
in public programs say that it doesn't work
quite how they say. Government programs
can effectively get doctors to charge cheaper
rates and have a easier time getting good
deals. But the proponents keep on insisting
that private businesses can run it better,
because look at what great ethics companies
have and they're always looking out for
the little guy, like senior citizens.
These
arguments from the government make no sense.
As we deregulate all of the industries why
should businesses follow the rules, that's
what deregulation is all about. But when
the WTO is telling us how to run our country,
we all better watch out.
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