I really almost lost it today. I was at my local tax center to file my income tax witholding checks and unimployment tax checks and sales tax checks to cover my 20 employees and first quater sales taxes. While waiting in line, an older gentleman had stumbled into the wrong office. He was looking for the DMV, which was accross the hall from the tax office. I couldn’t help but overhear the discussion he had with the buearucrat that works there. I would’ve yelled my own reply to what was said at the top of my lungs but my jaw had dropped too far to talk. It was:
Old man: “Is this the DMV”?
State Employee: “No, it is accross the hall. It is closing in a few weeks to be replaced by a private company that the state has contracted to do the same job”
Old man: “What does that mean? What will they charge to renew my plates?”
State Employee : “Sir I have no idea. It will be a private company that is for profit. Private companies charge whatever they want. They are taking away our jobs and do not care about service; only making money and growing their profits. We can’t control what they will charge you or how they will treat you.”
Old man: “Thank God the government is still here to run things.”
I was flabbergasted! Private companies can charge what the market will bear, and NOT A CENT more. Governments TAKE as much money as they want from activities initiated and substained by private companies, and if it is too much for you to pay, you have no recourse or options. I even ignored the service comment, but who boasts of the great service they get at the DMV or post office? The irony of hearing a state tax collector complaining about not being able to control an expense that was levied was just too rich for me to handle.
“I was flabbergasted! Private companies can charge what the market will bear, and NOT A CENT more. Governments TAKE as much money as they want from activities initiated and substained by private companies, and if it is too much for you to pay, you have no recourse or options.”
What market forces will be working to affect the prices that this company will be charging under a contract with the government? What recourse or options do customers have if they don’t like the service or rates provided by this company with a contract with the government
I have been in the DMV and other offices run by the state in IL, NJ, CO, TX and FL…tell you what…if a private company can get rid of the lazy assholes that are in those places…I say more power to them…and when do we privatize the Post Office and run that like a real business?
Ken,
You actually have quite a bit. The rates are still set by the state gov’t, but the day to day operations are run by a third party company that isn’t restricted by state laws for hiring/firing/operations management. It should actually improve drastically because there should be a state oversight office/committee that deals with any issues. I helped work something similar with a few other state agencies in Indiana and it has worked quite well.
Think about companies like Brown and Root that provide food, laundry, telephone and shower/toilet services to US soldiers deployed. They are much more efficient at providing these services and can do it much cheaper.
Think about companies like Brown and Root that provide food, laundry, telephone and shower/toilet services to US soldiers deployed. They are much more efficient at providing these services and can do it much cheaper.
What? KBR “More Efficient”, and “Cheaper”? Is this a joke? I hope so, because I could only say the above by ignoring the graft, bribery, and outright theft that’s going on over in Iraq, not to mention the astronomical insurance premiums.
Actually, it’s privatization talk like this that makes me blow a gasket. If we abolished the USPS and privatized I guarantee that all mail service to podunk towns across America would be instantly and permanently discontinued. Electronics? Sh-- I have a friend 8miles south of Ann Arbor who can’t get cable modem service because running a cable out his way wouldn’t be profitable
Private companies are not “risk takers” or “pioneers”, they are amoral and risk averse little cowards. They need the government just as much as we do to do the things that are too dirty and unprofitable to do by themselves…And they’ll always step in to soften the risk or the crash ala United Airlines, or any ballpark across the country.
New Mexico has both Private MVD (yeah Motor Vehicle Department instead of DMV, viva Nuevo Mexico) and state offices, I ALWAYS go to the private office they add a $15 surcharge but I have never had to wait in line for service. They connect to the same databases so everything runs pretty smooth. I guess it depends on how much your time is worth to you.
Now, completely replacing the office may have a diffenent outcome but having it as an optional service is nice.
No disagreements there. If you’re willing to pay premium price I don’t think any company should be prohibited from providing premium service. But we’ll always need the Gov’t for something to fall back on.
I am a small business owner. It is a private business. It’s not a very big or globally important business, but it is mine and I like to think we add a small amount of value to the community and to our customers. I own two smallish art galleries and custom frame shops. We are expanding into offering other varieties of home decor this year. I donate art supplies to support local childrens art classes. I donate several framed pieces of art with retail prices between $200 and $2,000 to various charities to be raffled off for fund raising efforts on a monthly basis. You wrote:
“Private companies are not “risk takers” or “pioneers”, they are amoral and risk averse little cowards. They need the government just as much as we do to do the things that are too dirty and unprofitable to do by themselves”
I take risks every day. If I screw up, I set off a chain of events that if every small business owner made the same screw ups society would fall apart. First my employees would not have a paycheck. Payroll is something that I didn’t fully respect until I was the one signing and delivering my people’s paychecks. If I make bad decisions my landlord, vendors, utilities, insurance, taxes, charities and lastly my family don’t get paid. And scores of people would have to find pretty things to enhance their homes somewhere else, and that just rubs me the wrong way.
