Bad Ideas Never Die - Government Makes Them Policy Over and Over Again

Bad Ideas Never Die

by Seton Motley, Contributing Author: American colleges have for decades now been ongoing, rolling disaster areas.

They are Leftist claptrap outfits that take mind-numbed victims of calamitous government primary and secondary education – and radicalize them to join the fight to end Western Civilization.

Conservative vanguard William F. Buckley wrote about his atrocious experience at Yale – in the early 1950s. And that was two decades before colleges and then the nation were afflicted with the Baby Boomer generation. Things have been ever devolving – consistently and precipitously.

Frederic Raphael aptly captured the sentiment:

“As Oscar Wilde should have said, when bad ideas have nowhere else to go, they emigrate to America and become university courses.”

What’s even worse than when these graduates of academic malpractice enter society? When they enter government.

It’s why Washington, D.C. spends so much of our money propping up colleges. Government capitols and college campuses are the only places on Earth where ideas as stupid as these can so effortlessly exist.

It is the Year of Our Lord 2019. DC is currently thoroughly consumed with discussing the supposed merits of Collectivism – Socialism, Communism, etc.:

“Any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.”

Our DC Geniuses act as if Collectivism – has never, ever before been tried anywhere on planet Earth.

Oh but it has. Over and over and over again since the 1917 Collectivist revolution in Russia.

How’d Collectivism do? Well, about 100 million people have thus far been murdered. And orders of magnitude more have been subjected to authoritarian and economic horrors beyond our ability to accurately comprehend.

Venezuela, anyone?

(Oh: And Scandinavia – oft cited by the DC Geniuses as Collectivist Nirvana – isn’t actually Collectivist.)

But in DC, our Geniuses ignore a century of incalculable, inconceivable Collectivist suffering – and press on.

Leading one of these idiotic collectivist charges are DC Geniuses like New York Democrat Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), California Democrat Senator Kamala Harris and Vermont Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders – and their titanic struggles with the basic math of Medicare.

As of 2012, Medicare as currently constituted faces a looming tab – for which there is absolutely no money – of $38.6 trillion.

And more and more medical professionals – are refusing to take Medicare patients:

“As doctors become more frustrated with Medicare’s reimbursement rates and rules, many are displaying their dissatisfaction by not treating Medicare patients.”

And because Medicare pays too little – private insurance companies and individuals pay way more. To make up the institutional government shortfalls:

“Plans are increasingly concerned about the degree to which providers overcharge them to make up for losses from government programs.”

The DC Geniuses – want to subject us to Medicare for All. Meaning we all jump into a pool – already drained to negative $40 trillion…just by senior citizens.

DC Genius Kamala Harris – openly wants the government to murder the private industry that has for decades been picking up the massive government slack.

When everyone has to use government medicine – and there’s nowhere else to go – what do you think starts happening?

Eternally long lines to see anyone remotely related to medicine. And Sarah Palin was correct – death panels, where government lords over you Caesar-style and gives you the ultimate, eternal thumbs-down.

Obamacare was the last expansion of government’s involvement in the health care sector. The results were uniformly disastrous.

Its namesake Barack Obama repeatedly promised us our insurance premiums would go down by $2,500 per year. Since, premiums have, on average, doubled – and deductibles have tripled.

Obamacare author Jonathan Gruber very-stupidly-on-video admitted – as a Kamala Harris precursor – its ultimate objective was to murder the private industry.

The DC Geniuses have time and again thoroughly screwed up private health care. With Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Department of Defense’s TRICARE and TRICARE for Life, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the Indian Health Service (IHS) program and Obamacare.

All of which pay care providers too little – too slowly. All of which forces care providers to charge private industry and individuals ever more – to pick up all of the massive government slack.

And The DC Geniuses’ solution to all of these massive government messes? Collectivize them all together – into one titanic government mess.

Government never, ever learns anything – from anything. About anything.

Government Broadband’s Record Is Bad; Traverse City Going For It:

“Traverse City’s public utility wants to build out a fiber-optic network to every home and business in the municipality….

“(U)tility staffers began drafting a request for approval to apply for a long-term, low-interest loan from the federal government….

“Based upon construction cost estimates from a contractor, the utility plans to apply for a $16.3 million loan….Tim Arends, executive director of Traverse City Light & Power, said it would be more economical to secure a low-interest loan from the federal government than to issue a bond to cover construction costs.”

More economical for Travis City? Sure. For We the Federal Taxpayers? Surely not.

Is the idea of Collectivist government Internet novel? Is it a brand new notion – for “governmental ownership and administration of the means of production” of broadband?

Of course not. Government Geniuses have tried government broadband – since the very beginnings of the private sector’s ongoing, massive ever-expansions of broadband.

Shocker: The private sector’s results – have been mind-bogglingly incredible. Governments’ results – have been uniformly, excruciatingly atrocious.

The Internet ‘Stimulus’-Just as Destructive as the Rest of the ‘Stimulus’

Yet Another Terrible Internet ‘Stimulus’ Project

Municipal Broadband Is A Failed Model

Municipal Broadband: Many Promises, More Failures

Municipal Broadband Efforts Have Produced Failures

Municipal Broadband Fails – Again

Despite Glossy Reports, Muni Broadband is Still a Net Money Loser

Lake County Another Example of Failed Municipal Broadband

Sale Fail: Provo Considering Contingencies for iProvo

What Other Cities Should Learn from Philly’s Failed Municipal Broadband Effort

There’s even at least one website – dedicated to cataloguing the very many government fails:

“For decades, local governments have made promises of faster and cheaper broadband networks. Unfortunately, these municipal networks often don’t deliver or fail, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill. Explore the map to learn about the massive debt, waste and broken promises left behind by these failed government networks.”

Travis City’s latest foray into folly – won’t be paid for by Travis City. It’s a “loan” from the DC Geniuses – from which We the Federal Taxpayers will never, ever again see a penny.

Because Travis City’s government broadband – will fail. Just as nigh all governments’ attempts everywhere at government broadband – have failed.

But that’s ok. The DC Geniuses have managed us into $22 trillion in already-on-the-books debt. And at least $127 trillion in unfunded future debt – thanks to government health care and government retirement accounts (Social Security).

So we have plenty of coin to waste on a brand new government broadband fail.

Following up on a quarter century-plus of government broadband fails.

Oh: And guess who – besides our Government Geniuses – think this nigh-endless line of terrible ideas…is just great?

College IS For Dummies: Harvard Government-Run-Internet Edition:

“Harvard manages to conduct an entire ‘study’ – totally surrounded by these mountain ranges of evidence that government broadband stinks on ice – and somehow writes the bizarre following:

“‘Our examination of advertised prices shows that community-owned fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) networks in the United States generally charge less for entry-level broadband service than do competing private providers.’”

Perhaps. For maybe two highly-government-subsidized weeks. After which government’s attempts at broadband – go bankrupt and away.

But Government and College Geniuses – are too stupid to notice all these pesky facts and this annoying evidence. Unfortunately, so too is their ever-increasing victim pool.

We the Reasonable eminently get the horrible joke of government doing anything – and everything.

And We get to pay the incalculably heinous tab for it.

What it lacks in hilarity – it more than makes up for with total American economic destruction.
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Seton Motley is the President of Less Government and he contributes to ARRA News Service. Please feel free to follow him him on Twitter   /   Facebook.

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