Quote:
Originally posted by dissention
In order to be ready, you have to be able to afford it. 
Spoken like a true Republican. Private sector paying for things that should be public. Less government money, more "personal responsibility." Sorry, I was always under the impression that the government should look out for the best interests of it's citizens. Head Start and such programs have always been public, why shouldn't they be? Maybe we should spend more tax dollars for Bush to fly around in his jet instead of such valuable and important programs?
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Well, a point of order is in order
The Fed. Govt. was not initially made to help the poor and did not to any significant degree for well over 100 years. That it does now, however, is a good thing - thank you FDR. The problem is people see the abuse in the system which causes them to hate it.
Interestingly, I think I read somewhere that a significant portion of the assisstance to the poor or needy (medically, etc.) comes from private sources such as the Red Cross, individual doctors/hospitals cutting their fees in accordance with individual income (believe it or not, it does happen and often), and, without meaning to open a can of worms, faith based charities such as The Covenant House.
I used to be a volunteer after school teacher for The Covenant House (
http://www.covenanthouse.org/ ), a faith based charity. My free services provided after school tutoring/care for these kids and allowed their parents to work until up to about 7:00 p.m. We never taught religion, just the basics (reading writing, and arithmetic) as we really sort of just helped the kids do their homework from the public schools. I probably had anywhere from 15 to 50 inner city kids aged anywhere from 6 to 15 or 16 (the reality was that anyone over 16 was working); they also had pre-six day care but I was not qualified to do that (believe me I had to go through the hellacious security check and other screening I have ever been to - they even called my high school teachers .
). The Covenant House also takes in any (and I mean any) under age 18 kid off the street and, if the kid wants it, The Covenant House will provide guidance and counseling 9usually spiritual but not always). If they do not want it (and they pretty much always wind up in the end wanting it because they see how it works on the other kids), they are still free to stay. I tell ya - those parents were some of the best people I have ever met. They were so grateful, it was almost embarrasing to me.
I know that is just one such organization, but many many more exist. I think that if there was some way for the Fed. Govt. programs to work like that, we would all be better off for it. But, I agree complete privatization probably is not the best answer; nor is blind payment to faith based charities. Maybe there is a happy medium that can be reached. I hope so because IMO the private organizations work a whole lot better than the Fed. or State ones, their is significantly less red tape, and Congress can't screw with the funding of a private org. as much (although give them a chance and they can screw anything up
).