Buyer Beware: A Dismal Record
of Failure
Commentary by Jim Day
Have you ever purchased something and regretted
it later? Ever rushed out and bought a tool because you thought it was a great
deal only to have it break shortly after you started using it? Maybe you’ve
bought something that didn’t work how you thought it would work or how some
ad said it was ‘supposed’ to work? Remember how convincing the ad was - making
all sorts of promises to save you money, time or effort - only to find out
later that your hasty purchase actually ended up wasting a bunch of your time
and costing you more money than you wanted to spend in the first place?
Over the years I’ve learned that the old adage
“Buyer beware” is quite true, so before I make a big purchase I do my homework.
I don’t rush out and buy 
anything
without a lot of research. One of the first things I do is to read reviews
about the product and compare it to other products just like it or similar
to it. I compare prices and, most importantly, look at the track record of
the company who makes the item or provides the service. If a company has a
bad track record of customer service, a history of poor quality control, or
has a lot of complaints about their product or services, I avoid that company
like the plague.
With this in mind, let’s take a look at the
track record of one of the largest ‘companies’ in the world and their services
- which we are forced to pay for – the federal government. The following statistics
and information regarding the failures of various federal programs (and this
is by no means a complete list) was sent to me by a friend who I image either
found it on the Internet or pieced it together from various resources.
The U.S.
Postal Service was established in 1775 - they've had 234 years to get
it right; it is broke, and even though heavily subsidized, it can't compete
with private sector Federal Express or United Parcel Service.
Social Security was established
in 1935 - they've had 74 years to get it right; it is broke.
Fannie
Mae was established in 1938 - they've had 71 years to get it right; it
is broke.
Freddie
Mac was established in 1970 - they've had 39 years to get it right; it
is broke. Together Fannie and Freddie have now led the entire world into the
worst economic collapse
in 80 years.
The War on Poverty was
started in 1964 - they've had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our
hard earned money is confiscated each year and transferred to ‘the poor’ and
it hasn't worked.
Medicare
and Medicaid were established
in 1965 - they've had 44 years to get it right; they are both broke; and now
our government dares to mention them as models for all
AMTRAK
was established in 1970 - they've had 39 years to get it right; last year
the Federal Government bailed them out as it continues to run at a loss!
This year, a trillion dollars was committed
in the massive political payoff called the Stimulus
Bill of 2009; it shows NO sign of working; the money is impossible to
track; it's been used to increase the size of governments across
Cash
for Clunkers was established in 2009 and went broke in 2009. Eighty percent
of the cars purchased under the program turned out to be produced by foreign
companies – which did little to help American manufacturers. Dealers nationwide
are still buried under bureaucratic paperwork demanded by our government and
a huge number of them have yet to be paid what was promised to them.
So with a perfect 100 percent failure rate
and a record that proves that each and every ‘service’ shoved down our throats
by an over-reaching, out of control federal government turns into disaster,
how could any informed American trust our government to run or even set policies
for America's health care
system which is 17 percent of our economy?
Maybe each of us has a personal responsibility
to let others in on this brilliant track record before 2010, and then help
remove from office those who are voting to destroy capitalism and destroy
our grandchildren's future – not to mention our nation!
