On Aug 22, 6:39 am, Denny wrote:
The nation is in a period of nuttiness and has been since September
2001...I am hoping for a regroup.

Robert- Hide quoted text -

Unfortunately, the other party is only defined by their distaste for
wasting money on military adventures, where it should be being wasted
on wealth transfer schemes, in their eyes...
The actual differences between the two parties are so small as to be
nearly invisible - only through a partisan microscope can any
difference be discerned...
Both parties are manned by professional politicians, who's only
mission is to get reelected until the day they retire - or die if you
are a Kennedy...
It appears we have gotten the government we deserve sigh

denny

I think we have the government and national situation we deserve...I
just wish we could do better.

The FSS situation (and eventually the privatization of ATC) is to my
mind an argument upon which two foundations tilt...the first is 1)
what is the proper role of government and 2) what are wealth
transfers....

Taxes are in my view a wealth transfer from individuals to the
collective government to do things for our collective society...I hate
the word collective because before long we get to the socialism
argument...

BUT FLYING IS A WEALTH TRANSFER...the American people transfer wealth
to the federal government to run a good ATC system, to make sure the
planes are safe, the navaids work...pilots are correctly certified and
trained...

It is the price we all pay for a functioning society. More then once
I have had people tell me "I dont fly so why do I care that the system
works" ....because our economy and our culture in general depend on
it. It is just like public schools or any of the other myriad of
things that the government does.

To different groups each function it does is either something of
enormous value (try the space shuttle system on NASA Rd 1...aka Nasa
Parkway) or it is a boondoggle...breakfast for kids in public schools.

I am one who believes and likes the US as a superpower and that means
we have agovernment that can make a superpower work.

Robert