what should the government regulate/provide?

[swamp]

We all say we want smaller government, but there are some things that are probably best left to the government.

I want to know what's in the food I eat and that's it's not contaminated.

I also want my non contaminated water.

Police and fire coverage.

Roads.

What about you?

[MJ2.0]

Mar 8, 2017 13:24:24 GMT -5 swamp said:

I also want my non contaminated water.

I'm sure the people in Flint wanted that too...

[swamp]

Mar 8, 2017 13:28:07 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

Mar 8, 2017 13:24:24 GMT -5 swamp said:

I also want my non contaminated water.

I'm sure the people in Flint wanted that too...

I'm sure they did too.

That whole situation is just sickening. It didn't have to happen.

[MJ2.0]

Mar 8, 2017 13:28:58 GMT -5 swamp said:

Mar 8, 2017 13:28:07 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

I'm sure the people in Flint wanted that too...

I'm sure they did too.

That whole situation is just sickening. It didn't have to happen.

and that's a basic need - the government still couldn't provide it.

I agree with your list.  I'd add clean air too.

[Miss Tequila]

Strong military

Secure borders

police/fireman

safety net for those that truly can't help themselves

public education through high school

grants/loans for college for kids that will succeed (we need more education, not less)

[MJ2.0]

you can't really know whether a kid will succeed or not. You can give help to high achievers who need it though.

[Deleted]

Provide for the common defense, though I would argue we should be cutting 54 billion from what we already spend, not adding it.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I want the drugs I'm prescribed to be effective and safe.

[Lizard Queen]

Safety, security, fairness, privacy, freedom.

A real safety net, including health insurance-wise, and not the holey patchwork that we have today.

Infrastructure, both physical and digital. Public transportation systems where it is warranted.

Education through CC years of college, preferably.

[emma1420]

I want less regulation when it comes to my uterus.  I'd like the government to stay the hell out of it and the choices I make for it.

Other than that I'm for a lot of regulation.  I want clean water, I want to address climate change, and I feel everyone is entitled to basic healthcare.  

[Rob Base 2.0]

Sex

You should have to get a "license" to have sex (since someone may accidentally or on purpose get preggers)

The criteria for getting approval for this "license" will be:

Physical Ability

Mental / Scholastic Ability

Monetarily Ability

Employment Potential

Strength of family unit

Etc

I know it will be a big hit and u all will love this idea. We eliminate problems at their source.

Strength in one or more of the categories can overcompensate for weakness in other categories.

As to how it is enforced- when peeps reach puberty they have a special operation. The only way to undo this operation is if you get a sex license.

[973beachbum]

I am a self professed tree hugger.  I don't care if it bugs people or business. 

I want clean air and water and I expect my government to make sure companies aren't turning the environment into their own private garbage and leaving the mess for society to clean up after them.   And I want the government to do whatever it takes to make sure it doesn't happen in the first place.  Some things do need to be fast tracked IMO.  I want them to slow down and make sure things are done right not just fine people after the shit has literally and figuratively hit the fan.

Other than that I want policing and fire depts.  Infrastructure that works and will last longer than the fix they are doing on this years potholes.  I would like basic health care for everyone.  I am coming around a free education including college through CC's type of thing. 

I live on a peninsula.  So bridges are a fact of life to me.  And every time they have to budget to redo one the costs comes up.  It isn't the "pretty" parts that make it so damn expensive.  The bridges are just damn expensive period.  And without the pedestrian walkway getting across the water would literally take a boat or a car which I would guess they don't have otherwise they wouldn't be walking in the first place.

[zibazinski]

Mar 8, 2017 13:36:00 GMT -5 @anne81 said:

I don't want smaller government.  I do want functional government, which I think is maybe what a lot of people are asking for? Functional government to me is focus on basics: infrastructure, education, safety, and health.

For example - I live in a small, fairly well run little city.  It's experiencing problems with rising pension costs and deteriorating infrastructure like everyone else but it's tackled the topics in a really reasonable way.  They left some positions unfilled, moved the money to road maintenance, and came up with a plan to get the roads into decent shape quickly because the costs accelerate as roads deteriorate. They sold off a money losing property to a company that brought jobs to the area.  We had mostly plowed main roads when Portland was shut down because the maintenance supervisor had bought plow attachments and figured out how to put them on regular work vehicles.

OTOH - Portland is a real example of government dysfunction and overreach.  They recently tried to make property owners adjacent to city property responsible for the trees on city property. They change taxes after they are passed. They take utility money and use it on parades. They take road money and use it on anything but roads. They randomly declare they won't enforce laws against homeless.  They decide they are going to get waivers so they can have contaminated water.

So I guess most people would take good government but would rather have less government if it's bad.

My cousins have all moved away. I grew up in Oregon so what it's become makes me sad. Don't even get me started on PERS.

[zibazinski]

Sorry I thought you meant Oregon not Maine.

[weltschmerz]

Environmental Protection, Yes.   Let's keep companies and people from turning the country into the cesspool China is,  but not at the expense of limiting the water pressure I can get out of my shower head or by regulating the light bulbs I use.

So you don't mind having a toxic, radioactive slurry coming out of your taps, as long as you have good water pressure for your shower?

What trump is doing to the Great Lakes is unconscionable, not to mention allowing coal ash to be dumped in rivers and streams.

[milee]

Mar 8, 2017 13:36:00 GMT -5 @anne81 said:

I don't want smaller government.  I do want functional government, which I think is maybe what a lot of people are asking for? 

God, wouldn't that be nice?  That used to be my focus, but I've given up.  I just don't believe it is possible to have functional government, especially on a large scale.  I honestly can't think of a single federally run organization or program that is remotely competent and think it's naive to think this will somehow magically change.  

So now that my hopes have been crushed, I focus on smaller and less government.  It can't be done well, so let's have as little of it as we can while preventing anarchy.

During my years of auditing and consulting I have been inside and have intimate knowledge of the operations and finances of government healthcare providers, government hospitals, government insurance plans and government divisions in charge of healthcare.  And all were truly, truly awful.  Worse than every single other private and not for profit client I ever had.  The people who want government involved in healthcare have not spent much time in a variety of government healthcare settings or are engaging in wishful thinking.  I don't want government anywhere near my healthcare.  

[wvugurl26]

Mar 8, 2017 19:25:29 GMT -5 milee said:

Mar 8, 2017 13:36:00 GMT -5 @anne81 said:

I don't want smaller government.  I do want functional government, which I think is maybe what a lot of people are asking for? 

God, wouldn't that be nice?  That used to be my focus, but I've given up.  I just don't believe it is possible to have functional government, especially on a large scale.  I honestly can't think of a single federally run organization or program that is remotely competent and think it's naive to think this will somehow magically change.  

So now that my hopes have been crushed, I focus on smaller and less government.  It can't be done well, so let's have as little of it as we can while preventing anarchy.

During my years of auditing and consulting I have been inside and have intimate knowledge of the operations and finances of government healthcare providers, government hospitals, government insurance plans and government divisions in charge of healthcare.  And all were truly, truly awful.  Worse than every single other private and not for profit client I ever had.  The people who want government involved in healthcare have not spent much time in a variety of government healthcare settings or are engaging in wishful thinking.  I don't want government anywhere near my healthcare.  

I audit them. I agree. Medicare and Medicaid are a debacle. I'm doubt HRSA's health clinics are any better.

[siralynn]

Mar 8, 2017 14:58:01 GMT -5 @sroo4 said:

I think the easiest way to describe what I think gov't should provide is to say... I think they should do the same things they are doing now but less.  

For instance:  

Roads, bridges, sidewalks, other infrastructure, Yes.   But no mandate for pretty and expensive decorative bits on the bridges, bike lanes per x amount of road repaving, roundabouts that nobody wants, etc. 

Environmental Protection, Yes.   Let's keep companies and people from turning the country into the cesspool China is,  but not at the expense of limiting the water pressure I can get out of my shower head or by regulating the light bulbs I use. 

Education, Yes.    Let's teach our kids to think,  to read and write, to learn languages, to work with their hands, play sports, etc.  But let's drop all of the touchy feely, self esteem,  anti bullying, anti whatever is the problem of the day crap.  The schools aren't there to cure your child of whatever ails them their job is to educate the masses. 

FDA evaluation of Drugs,  Yes.   But good lord does it really take years and years to get drugs approved?   

Stewardship of our National Resources,  Yes.  But not every puddle is a federal wetland area and some states are predominately 'owned' by the federal gov't.    A little bit of balance goes a long way. 

Safety Nets, Yes.   A way of life no.

Protection and Security, Yes.  Not nannying and surveillance.   I see no reason why the gov't thinks it needs to have it's eyes and ears in everyone's business.    

I could go on,  but I'm guessing my point has been made for the most part.   None of the things the gov't is doing started out as a bad thing.  I don't think it should go away,  but I do think that there are too many overreaches that should be pulled back or eliminated within the basic services.  

I work in pharma. Yes, it really takes years and years to get drugs approved, as long as you care about proving efficacy. The clinical trials take a very long time.

[milee]

Mar 8, 2017 19:31:26 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

Mar 8, 2017 19:25:29 GMT -5 milee said:

God, wouldn't that be nice?  That used to be my focus, but I've given up.  I just don't believe it is possible to have functional government, especially on a large scale.  I honestly can't think of a single federally run organization or program that is remotely competent and think it's naive to think this will somehow magically change.  

So now that my hopes have been crushed, I focus on smaller and less government.  It can't be done well, so let's have as little of it as we can while preventing anarchy.

During my years of auditing and consulting I have been inside and have intimate knowledge of the operations and finances of government healthcare providers, government hospitals, government insurance plans and government divisions in charge of healthcare.  And all were truly, truly awful.  Worse than every single other private and not for profit client I ever had.  The people who want government involved in healthcare have not spent much time in a variety of government healthcare settings or are engaging in wishful thinking.  I don't want government anywhere near my healthcare.  

I audit them. I agree. Medicare and Medicaid are a debacle. I'm doubt HRSA's health clinics are any better.

Yes, when someone suggests "Medicare works great - make it available to everyone!"  I know not to waste any breath explaining why that wouldn't work (Medicare only kinda works because docs and hospitals can make enough money on other payers that they'll take the Medicare patients at a loss, if you take away the paying clients/insurers it will all fail quickly) or how bad the programs actually are.  Healthcare is complicated - who knew? - and the person saying "Medicare works great" doesn't understand enough about how it works to even begin to have a conversation.

[milee]

Mar 8, 2017 19:31:26 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

Mar 8, 2017 19:25:29 GMT -5 milee said:

God, wouldn't that be nice?  That used to be my focus, but I've given up.  I just don't believe it is possible to have functional government, especially on a large scale.  I honestly can't think of a single federally run organization or program that is remotely competent and think it's naive to think this will somehow magically change.  

So now that my hopes have been crushed, I focus on smaller and less government.  It can't be done well, so let's have as little of it as we can while preventing anarchy.

During my years of auditing and consulting I have been inside and have intimate knowledge of the operations and finances of government healthcare providers, government hospitals, government insurance plans and government divisions in charge of healthcare.  And all were truly, truly awful.  Worse than every single other private and not for profit client I ever had.  The people who want government involved in healthcare have not spent much time in a variety of government healthcare settings or are engaging in wishful thinking.  I don't want government anywhere near my healthcare.  

I audit them. I agree. Medicare and Medicaid are a debacle. I'm doubt HRSA's health clinics are any better.

Do you ever have to spend time in any of the county owned hospitals?  <<Shudder>>  I audited or provided consulting in at least a dozen of them in four different states and all were positively frightening. That's another thing I suspect - the people who want universal healthcare haven't spent much time at the various hospitals our government already runs.  I have no idea why other countries have public healthcare systems that function, but I honestly do not believe our government is capable of this.  Seriously, the very few pieces of healthcare they currently control - think VA hospitals and clinics and county hospitals - are a disaster.  Why would we think if we gave them a lot more to do they'd suddenly do it better?   

[zibazinski]

I volunteer at a well known and widely applauded hospital. It wins all kinds of awards. I wouldn't want to go there under any circumstances.

[wvugurl26]

I've seen audit reports. Never been in them. They aren't efficient at anything that's for sure. And the layers of red tape make the fraud possible.

Hopkins wins tons of awards. I try to stay away except for a couple of specialities.

[milee]

Mar 8, 2017 19:51:09 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

Hopkins wins tons of awards. I try to stay away except for a couple of specialities.

Hopkins is owned and operated by the Medical School, though, right?  It's not a county owned and run facility, is it?

[wvugurl26]

Mar 8, 2017 19:54:11 GMT -5 milee said:

Mar 8, 2017 19:51:09 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

Hopkins wins tons of awards. I try to stay away except for a couple of specialities.

Hopkins is owned and operated by the Medical School, though, right?  It's not a county owned and run facility, is it?

It's not county owned but I suspect being in Baltimore city they see a lot of Medicaid, Medicare and uninsured. Just an example of highly touted and not so great in real life.

[tskeeter]

Mar 8, 2017 19:41:23 GMT -5 milee said:

Mar 8, 2017 19:31:26 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

I audit them. I agree. Medicare and Medicaid are a debacle. I'm doubt HRSA's health clinics are any better.

Do you ever have to spend time in any of the county owned hospitals?  <<Shudder>>  I audited or provided consulting in at least a dozen of them in four different states and all were positively frightening. That's another thing I suspect - the people who want universal healthcare haven't spent much time at the various hospitals our government already runs.  I have no idea why other countries have public healthcare systems that function, but I honestly do not believe our government is capable of this.  Seriously, the very few pieces of healthcare they currently control - think VA hospitals and clinics and county hospitals - are a disaster.  Why would we think if we gave them a lot more to do they'd suddenly do it better?   

One thought to consider is that most of the countries with national heath care have smaller populations than the US.  Certainly there are significant complications that come with US size scale.  And, countries with national health care probably do a better job of regulating their borders.

[engineerdoe]

Mar 8, 2017 20:01:20 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

Mar 8, 2017 19:41:23 GMT -5 milee said:

Do you ever have to spend time in any of the county owned hospitals?  <<Shudder>>  I audited or provided consulting in at least a dozen of them in four different states and all were positively frightening. That's another thing I suspect - the people who want universal healthcare haven't spent much time at the various hospitals our government already runs.  I have no idea why other countries have public healthcare systems that function, but I honestly do not believe our government is capable of this.  Seriously, the very few pieces of healthcare they currently control - think VA hospitals and clinics and county hospitals - are a disaster.  Why would we think if we gave them a lot more to do they'd suddenly do it better?   

One thought to consider is that most of the countries with national heath care have smaller populations than the US.  Certainly there are significant complications that come with US size scale.  And, countries with national health care probably do a better job of regulating their borders.

I follow a nurse on twitter who is in London and the NHS is on the verge of collapse.  I agree the population is way smaller than the U.S.  They turned over hospitals and clinics to a private management system and under performing ones get shut down.  The only advantage I see for public healthcare is their negotiating power.  It would be great if we could get something like that going for individuals here in the U.S. but the lobbyists will never allow it.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Mar 8, 2017 19:34:28 GMT -5 siralynn said:

Mar 8, 2017 14:58:01 GMT -5 @sroo4 said:

I think the easiest way to describe what I think gov't should provide is to say... I think they should do the same things they are doing now but less.  

For instance:  

Roads, bridges, sidewalks, other infrastructure, Yes.   But no mandate for pretty and expensive decorative bits on the bridges, bike lanes per x amount of road repaving, roundabouts that nobody wants, etc. 

Environmental Protection, Yes.   Let's keep companies and people from turning the country into the cesspool China is,  but not at the expense of limiting the water pressure I can get out of my shower head or by regulating the light bulbs I use. 

Education, Yes.    Let's teach our kids to think,  to read and write, to learn languages, to work with their hands, play sports, etc.  But let's drop all of the touchy feely, self esteem,  anti bullying, anti whatever is the problem of the day crap.  The schools aren't there to cure your child of whatever ails them their job is to educate the masses. 

FDA evaluation of Drugs,  Yes.   But good lord does it really take years and years to get drugs approved?   

Stewardship of our National Resources,  Yes.  But not every puddle is a federal wetland area and some states are predominately 'owned' by the federal gov't.    A little bit of balance goes a long way. 

Safety Nets, Yes.   A way of life no.

Protection and Security, Yes.  Not nannying and surveillance.   I see no reason why the gov't thinks it needs to have it's eyes and ears in everyone's business.    

I could go on,  but I'm guessing my point has been made for the most part.   None of the things the gov't is doing started out as a bad thing.  I don't think it should go away,  but I do think that there are too many overreaches that should be pulled back or eliminated within the basic services.  

I work in pharma. Yes, it really takes years and years to get drugs approved, as long as you care about proving efficacy. The clinical trials take a very long time.

And even after years of testing, some side effects show up long after the testing period is over....Vioxx and Bextra.

[siralynn]

Mar 8, 2017 22:23:23 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Mar 8, 2017 19:34:28 GMT -5 siralynn said:

I work in pharma. Yes, it really takes years and years to get drugs approved, as long as you care about proving efficacy. The clinical trials take a very long time.

And even after years of testing, some side effects show up long after the testing period is over....Vioxx and Bextra.

Exactly. Even huge phase 3 trials are a relatively small number of patients compared with the general population, so may not catch everything. And anything that's related to accumulation or chronic exposure over many years may not get caught in only a few years of monitoring.

We put a lot of effort into clinical trial design, but it's not perfect.

[tskeeter]

Mar 8, 2017 20:52:43 GMT -5 engineerdoe said:

Mar 8, 2017 20:01:20 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

One thought to consider is that most of the countries with national heath care have smaller populations than the US.  Certainly there are significant complications that come with US size scale.  And, countries with national health care probably do a better job of regulating their borders.

I follow a nurse on twitter who is in London and the NHS is on the verge of collapse.  I agree the population is way smaller than the U.S.  They turned over hospitals and clinics to a private management system and under performing ones get shut down.  The only advantage I see for public healthcare is their negotiating power.  It would be great if we could get something like that going for individuals here in the U.S. but the lobbyists will never allow it.

Had a chance to try the NHS in Northern Ireland (well, Mom did) several years ago.  Quality of care was very good.  The "Doogie Howser" ER Doc put 17 stitches in Mom's face so well that you couldn't find them a year later.  The down side was "Doogie" was the only Doc on duty in the ER of a large regional hospital on a Friday evening.  Non-life threatening cases were cared for.  Eventually.  Another patient waited over eight hours to get her broken leg treated while the Doc dealt with more critical cases.  I'm thinking that level of service will not meet the expectations of US patients.

[Deleted]

Only what it can afford to provide without bankrupting generations to come.
 A shame that it's already to late for that.