If so, then what business model? If not, then why. I'm on the fence here, so I'll tend towards in some ways, yes and in others no. I'll give reasons for this, and will expect participants to have reasons for their own claims as well.

Debate... or not.

They already run the country like a business. The business of treason.

The last thing that government should have is a cold, detached, corporate feel towards its citizens. After all, we are a democratic republic - the chief executive and legislators are in office because we the people put them there.

However, when it comes to finance and accountability, the government does need to integrate more business-like policies just to bring themselves back to reality. They shouldn't do a full conversion. I don't even know if they should do a half-conversion. But they do need to move towards righting the ship before it sinks. That means investing in the future by paying down debt, establishing a rainy day fund, maintaining a balanced budget, and reducing the overhead of running the country.

As dissatisfaction with government grows in this country, so too does the chance for a socio-political crisis. Even governments with strong militaries can be overthrown. The 13 Colonies fought one of the world's superpowers of the time, and won independence from them to create the United States. It happened again with the French Revolution. And again with the U.S.S.R. I'm not saying that it will happen, but a government like ours really needs to take notice when a significant chunk of the population is disillusioned with them. That's when they need to stop flapping their mouths, and listen to the people instead. After all, they are not OUR LEADERS, they are OUR REPRESENTATIVES. They are two different mindsets, and it's time the distinction was noted.

..let's face it money is the blood that keeps things going,of course it has to be considered first where people are concerned, without it ya don't get diddly..you have to insure the fact that you have more coming in then going out export/import ratios have to be in

line..you have to take care of the people (the base) first if you can't get that in line then eventually you will have to take more from the people and you become stretched thin..doomed to fail..and eventually you find yourself throwing buckets of water on a forest fire..though it may douse a little of the flame it does nothing to put out the massive forest fire..and eventually all is consumed left barren to fend for itself in a heap of ashes.

..what you are seeing now is the fact the base wasn'protected the people are losing more and more and they're throwing buckets of water at a forest fire..restructure has to come or this fire will just continue to grow..of course these are just my opinions...

Government is not a business and it should not be run like a business. The first priority for a business is effficiency and profits. The best way to insure that Government can serve no purpose but to enrich the already rich is to strive for efficiency and "profit". Efficiency in Government kills jobs in the overall economy. That's obvious. A Government that strives for efficiency is one that seeks maximum wealth production with minumum resource expense. Translation: Make more money with less human input. More money with fewer employed people. That's where the right has pushed our Government. How's that working out for us, so far?

fixed it for you... you can thank me later

the government cannot be run as a business. not with our constitution. the goal of a business is profit. the goal of the government is for then general welfare of the governed. no, i don't use the term 'welfare' in it's most known connotation.

Only the country on a whole profits from some kinds of spending. That kind of spending separates those who care about the nation of people which constitute being this country, and those who don't.

so folks who want to cut government spending don't care about this country???

I'm sure they care about the country. They just don't seem to care about most of the people who live in the country.

That reminded me of something I find funny.

They want to cut down on medicare. I deal with medicare daily. On a standard ins. claim form there is a spot for the ammount you need to be paid for your procedures. There is no ammount on a medicare claim form. Medicare pays what they want to. Cut down on Medicare? How? They pay what they want to now. That is why they are in trouble, no doctors office wants to deal with them. Lot's of our clients have dropped medicare as an excepted ins. They are hard to deal with, they deny all claims for any problem with a single claim in a batch, and they pay what they want instead of what you ask for. Anyone that has to deal with Medicare, hates Medicare.

I wrote some kinds of spending.

Well, most businesses don't spend huge chunks of cash on pork barrel projects. That's one thing the government needs to stop doing. In fact, government did a lot of that during the 1920's too, just before the Great Depression. There's even a satire of "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves" that was written about plunderous spending on the federal level back then, not to mention numerous political cartoons.

Technically, Social Security and Medicare are supposed to be completely separate from the federal budget. That's why they have their own taxes to support them. If they hadn't borrowed from these programs, then they wouldn't have to keep dumping in revenue from the income tax to keep them afloat. That's partly why they keep having to borrow money: they are robbing Peter to pay Paul.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Abolish the loopholes, and simplify the tax code. If everyone pays 20% to 25% of income in federal taxes (including FICA and Medicare), then there is no budget deficit under current spending. Period. It shouldn't have to be rocket science.

Now, better fiscal management and accountability....reduced spending....and, voila! We can pay down the debt, and begin establishing a rainy day fund for the next economic downturn so taxes don't have to be raised when the people are already hurting. A recession happens roughly every 10 years. Plenty of time to plan ahead.

Like I said, it shouldn't be rocket science.

run the country like a business?

not the part where all that matters is profit and the bottom line

maybe the part where books are balanced,,,,

Little late for that, money and power is the name of the game if you haven't noticed. We're just the players.

I dont think we would have social programs if that were true.

I know money is a priority, but I dont think we are where it is 'all that matters' where government is concerned.

Nah those are just things to make it act like they care. Gotta put on a good front you know. Don't wanna make their deeds TOO obvious.

Besides all that, the more they can get people to depend on government for everything, the easier they can control the people. That's the other reason for these social programs exist in my view. Make people so dependent on government that they can't do anything on their own without them, and wouldn't know how if they had to. Plus it makes it easy for them to dictate to us via such programs.

It's a win/win really, you put on a good show for the people make it seem like you care on the one hand, while taking more control of the people on the other.

I dont know about others, but being on assistance didnt cause me to not be able to 'do anything on my own'.

I worked, just as I did when I was 'employed', but didnt get paid anything close to a wage for it. I continued being productive, I continued having to budget my household and care for my kids,,,nothing changed except the name on the checks

my abilities were none the worse,,,,

I understand what you're saying, and I know you wanna believe they have your best interests in mind but they really don't, no matter how much you may want to think that they do. They have their own agendas with everything they do, and it's not us they are looking out for in them.

If they really were, this country would be a hell of a lot different then it is.

we can agree to disagree, I think more highly of people than to believe all of them (or all of any subgroup) are uncaring and/or shallow.