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Originally posted by LoganCale
danwild6: I agree. Tax breaks for the rich are too abundant and tax refunds were feel-good nonsense. I think taxes need to actually be reduced - but not until we get the debt paid off. And while the debt is being paid off, we need to work on cleaning up reckless spending.
Originally posted by LoganCale
There are some programs that I don't think the government should be running and should be privatized, like NASA and Amtrak. Public transportation is great, but I think the government's role should be encouraging the creation and usage of such things, not running them themselves. And I feel space exploration should also be encouraged, but not neccessarily by the government. An addition to the large amount of money spent on it, it will eventually lead to U.S. regulation of space and I don't feel that anyone should be regulating space at the time being.
Originally posted by LoganCale
And while I think it's good for the U.S. to have a strong military, I think it needs to be worked on a bit. We don't really have any enemies at the moment that are a threat to us in the air or on the water. And considering that we're likely far more advanced in those areas with secret developing projects than we are publicly, I think we can probably cut back on some of that development for a while and use the money for either other domestic uses or even just working on redesigning the Army to deal better with guerilla tactics. Designing new, better armored vehicles, researching new types of body armor that don't restrict movement so much, but also offer better protection, etc...
quote: Originally posted by danwild6
It was written in NASA charter from the vey beginning that they were task with developing space technologies to benefit the american people which they haven't done. I think we should fund NASA not for the purpose of Space Exploration but as a testing ground for new technologies which after being developed by the government can then be given to american aerospace companies to make them more competitive internationally.
As far as Amtrak was given contradictory goals from the get go. They were task with both passenger rail services amid decreasing demand and to operate as a commercial service. While at the sametime they are dependent on freight railways which often leads to disruption of services. I'm not against a national rail service just one we put the time and effort into.
Originally posted by LoganCale
I suppose I could possibly support NASA being what you say it should be and leaving the exploration to private organizations.
Originally posted by LoganCale
Regarding Amtrak: I think it's great to have an interstate train system and I've used it several times. But, as you said, the dependence on freight tracks causes constant delays. It took 16 - 20 hours to get to California from Arizona the times I used Amtrak. For comparison, it takes 7 - 9 hours to drive the same distance.
Originallt posted by LoganCale
I guess I just think the government should leave such things to private companies. They seem to be able to do things more efficiently and that leaves the government able to focus on some of the more important things. When they're spread over so many different things, everything suffers.