After watching "Iraq for Sale", I lost faith in the Libertarian principle of privatization -- at least with respect to how it's ended up costing us far more in Iraq than doing it the old fashioned way would. Many services that the military once did on its own are being farmed out to corporations that overcharge the government.
So I started thinking... maybe because these companies overcharge us as taxpayers for their services, we should make it in their best interests to keep costs down rather than continue the incredibly asinine program of cost-plus pricing that the government uses with these contractors.
It brought me to an idea that conservatives had been throwing around a few years ago -- take Social Security funds and invest them in the stock market.... but not just any stocks -- put it in the stocks of the contractors themselves.
The reconstruction of Iraq has caused the stock values of companies like Halliburton, KBR, and Blackwater to increase tremendously over the last few years, and with operations continuing in Iraq at no clear end, there's no reason why these stocks should fall anytime soon.
In effect, if we continue rebuilding Iraq while these companies profit from our expenditures on them, we can profit too by putting Social Security funds in these companies and actually generate savings that will go towards taking care of the poor, sick and old. It also means that the warmongers can sate their appetites for aggression as much as they want, while we still profit as a society.
Ironically, this arrangement would unite the interests of the neocons and liberals. Warfare and nation-building would continue unabated while Social Security would remain intact and well-funded.
Here's the catch though.... This system would require careful enforcement of what would amount to these companies engaging in profitsharing with Social Security itself. The government would have to remain vigilant in this for the system to work.
So... what do you guys think? Is it a viable bipartisan dream, or an Orwellian nightmare?
So I started thinking... maybe because these companies overcharge us as taxpayers for their services, we should make it in their best interests to keep costs down rather than continue the incredibly asinine program of cost-plus pricing that the government uses with these contractors.
It brought me to an idea that conservatives had been throwing around a few years ago -- take Social Security funds and invest them in the stock market.... but not just any stocks -- put it in the stocks of the contractors themselves.
The reconstruction of Iraq has caused the stock values of companies like Halliburton, KBR, and Blackwater to increase tremendously over the last few years, and with operations continuing in Iraq at no clear end, there's no reason why these stocks should fall anytime soon.
In effect, if we continue rebuilding Iraq while these companies profit from our expenditures on them, we can profit too by putting Social Security funds in these companies and actually generate savings that will go towards taking care of the poor, sick and old. It also means that the warmongers can sate their appetites for aggression as much as they want, while we still profit as a society.
Ironically, this arrangement would unite the interests of the neocons and liberals. Warfare and nation-building would continue unabated while Social Security would remain intact and well-funded.
Here's the catch though.... This system would require careful enforcement of what would amount to these companies engaging in profitsharing with Social Security itself. The government would have to remain vigilant in this for the system to work.
So... what do you guys think? Is it a viable bipartisan dream, or an Orwellian nightmare?
Last edited by Turquoise (2007-01-23 20:18:29)