Petty comment, Jay. <br><br>Take "guarantee" out of it. In life there are few guarantees. Your car does not guarantee your transportation; oxygen, food, and water do not guarantee life. (Were this a logic class, I would note the difference between necessary and sufficient conditions.)<br>
<br>Which institution stands a better chance of securing your travel from Lewiston to Seattle? The federal government or the state? That was Tom's point. Since there is no single state involved in this transportation, Tom's example of the FAA is another good example of the need for federal government programs.<br>
<br>So far it seems that these federal governmental programs are OK: FAA, Agriculture, Education, and EPA. Again, I'm willing to hear objections to these points but as I see it the cases have been clearly made. I'm unaware of substantive arguments against these programs, just nifty slogans like "Big government is communism."<br>
<br>Note that Roger's comment about the federal government not telling us what to eat is something that liberals can hang their hat on too since it concerns the matter of civil LIBERTIES and the State's (broadly concerned to include the federal government) right to limit your behavior. I agree with Roger on this point: the State should not tell you what to eat but neither should your state (Idaho).<br>
<br>One last matter, and I'm genuinely interested in your reply. What is wrong with universal healthcare? It is a fact that insurance is influenced by numbers: the more people insured, the lower the costs. This is why my insurance benefits are better than those you can get at some smaller company. And it is a fact that uninsured people have a financial impact on the insured. Doctors, hospitals attempt to run at a profit (if they can) so the costs incurred by those who don't pay will be passed on to those who do pay. Knowing just these two facts, how could it not benefit us all from a purely economical point of view to have universal heath care? I'm aware of spurious arguments about "limitations of doctors" but that is BS since anyone with insurance suffers these limitations. This is an argument insurance in general. Maybe we should do away with insurance and have everyone be responsible for saving enough money to pay for their doctor bills as they go. Is that your view?<br>
<br>But I'm a philosopher, not an economist and since you know so much more about the business world than I do, I realize I might be missing something. What is it?<br><br>Best, Joe<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Jan 7, 2012 at 7:11 PM, Jay Borden <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jborden@datawedge.com">jborden@datawedge.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">FAA doesn't "guarantee your safety" any more than Medicare guarantees<br>
your health.<br>
<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br>
<br>
Jay<br>
</font></span><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
-----Original Message-----<br>
From: <a href="mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com">vision2020-bounces@moscow.com</a><br>
[mailto:<a href="mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com">vision2020-bounces@moscow.com</a>] On Behalf Of Tom Hansen<br>
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2012 1:17 PM<br>
To: lfalen<br>
Cc: <a href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</a><br>
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Globaql Food Safety Fund<br>
<br>
How about the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), Mr. Falen? Or am I<br>
gonna have to rely on the state of to guarantee my safety when I board<br>
an aircraft at Boise, Lewiston, or Moscow . . . as Senator McGee taxis<br>
the aircraft down the tarmac.<br>
<br>
Seeya later, Moscow.<br>
<br>
Tom Hansen<br>
Spokane, Washington<br>
<br>
"If not us, who?<br>
If not now, when?"<br>
<br>
- Unknown<br>
<br>
On Jan 7, 2012, at 12:56 PM, lfalen <<a href="mailto:lfalen@turbonet.com">lfalen@turbonet.com</a>> wrote:<br>
<br>
> There are some things the federal government should do. Namely things<br>
that can not be none by state or local government, Protecting the food<br>
supply is one of them. In conjunction with private bussiness the<br>
government should insure that the food supply is safe and also provide<br>
education on the nutritionall value of food and health supplements. What<br>
government at any level should not do is prohibit people from eating<br>
what ever they desire, so long as it does not harm someone else.<br>
> Roger<br>
> -----Original message-----<br>
> From: Joe Campbell <a href="mailto:philosopher.joe@gmail.com">philosopher.joe@gmail.com</a><br>
> Date: Sat, 07 Jan 2012 07:17:50 -0800<br>
> To: lfalen <a href="mailto:lfalen@turbonet.com">lfalen@turbonet.com</a><br>
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Globaql Food Safety Fund<br>
><br>
>> Roger,<br>
>><br>
>> I hope you don't take this as my being antagonistic. I know we've had<br>
our<br>
>> issues in the past. But how is this not "Big Government" in action?<br>
If we<br>
>> dismantle the government in the way that some Republicans advocate,<br>
how are<br>
>> initiatives like this going to be made more possible? And how can we<br>
>> "address high priority food hazards" with restricting businesses in<br>
certain<br>
>> ways? These are honest questions.<br>
>><br>
>> Best, Joe<br>
>><br>
>> On Fri, Jan 6, 2012 at 10:31 AM, lfalen <<a href="mailto:lfalen@turbonet.com">lfalen@turbonet.com</a>> wrote:<br>
>><br>
>>> From The December.January issue of Food Safety. The Grocery<br>
Manufactures<br>
>>> AQssociation joined U. S. Government and World Bank officials in<br>
announcing<br>
>>> an innovative public-private partnership that has pledged $1million<br>
toward<br>
>>> the creation of the world's first Global Safety Fund. to be managed<br>
by the<br>
>>> World bank. The fund is expected to grow to $15 to $20 million in<br>
the<br>
>>> first decade. They will address high priority food hazards, such as<br>
>>> aflatoxin in grain, Salmonella, Literia, Escherichia coli, and viral<br>
and<br>
>>> bacterial pathogens in seafood. They will also strengthen testing<br>
and other<br>
>>> problems involved with food safety.<br>
>>> Roger<br>
>>><br>
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