Outsourcer In Chief
Source: By PAUL KRUGMAN, The New York Times, December 11, 2006
According to U.S. News & World Report, President Bush has told aides that he won't respond in detail to the Iraq Study Group's report because he doesn't want to ''outsource'' the role of commander in chief. That's pretty ironic. You see, outsourcing of the government's responsibilities -- not to panels of supposed wise men, but to private companies with the right connections -- has been one of the hallmarks of his administration. And privatization through outsourcing is one reason the administration has failed on so many fronts.
....... It's now clear that there's a fundamental error in the antigovernment ideology embraced by today's conservative movement. Conservatives look at the virtues of market competition and leap to the conclusion that private ownership, in itself, is some kind of magic elixir. But there's no reason to assume that a private company hired to perform a public service will do better than people employed directly by the government.