Federal Government Begins First Shutdown In 17 Years

Re:Federal Government Begins First Shutdown In 17 Years by hellcow on Tuesday October 01, 2013 @01:07AM (#6474195)

By "disasters like in Tennessee," you're referring to a family that lost their home in a fire due to not paying a business for their fire-fighting services.

It's not as if they paid the firefighters, but the firefighters refused to act--if that were the case, there would be a serious civil lawsuit to recoup the cost of the lost home, its sentimental value, and punitive damages.

He didn't pay for fire-fighting. He didn't have enough insurance. And somehow, this is someone else's fault.

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Re:Federal Government Begins First Shutdown In 17 Years by asabjorn on Tuesday October 01, 2013 @01:17AM (#6474238)

Yes, the family had not paid the insurance. But why does that matter in the context of the blanket claim that private companies can always do at least as good of a job as a government organization with less waste?

A city firefighting crew would not refuse to put out this fire so it is an example of a service that was provided at a lower quality in the private market due to market incentives.

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Re:Federal Government Begins First Shutdown In 17 Years by tzs on Tuesday October 01, 2013 @01:53AM (#6474384)

The firefighters in the Tennessee case you cited were city firefighters. There were no private firefighters or private firefighting companies involved.

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