Shaman, sorry about the spelling, I'm dyslexic and a few other LDs that make spelling and math a bitch (I often spell how words sound, and don't have the time to waste rereading it for errors (I really don't have time to be posting here in the first place, but what the hell).
the Catholic school system is funded by the Catholic network (reaching up to the top) who cares. What does that have to do with what were talking about (or the price of potatoes in Poland for that matter)?
Example, just because the Radio Shack down the street is ultimately supported by the national corporation (which helps those stores struggling), doesn't indicate that Radio Shack isn't run with extreme efficiency, and with very little waste (demanding the most from their employees, and paying them based on performance). Like the Catholic Church, Radio Shack can't just keep raising taxes to spend for inefficiency. Both the Catholic Church and Radio Shack are run like private companies. They have to maximize profits with limited resources (ineffective or unneeded employees are removed). Look, take a look at how many state employees exist for your school system (you should be able to find this stuff on the net), see how many are actually working in the schools (teaching kids or actually interacting with them in some way) and how many exist outside the school, shoving paper around and making lofty salaries. Now, honestly think about, how many people does it really take to run that system (outside of teachers and the schools staff), the people who oversee the schools, write a checks to pay for each schools expenses, take care of clerical duties, and help out with things like special needs, and school planning. If your honest you will see the public school system could likely save alot of money by getting leaner.
Then ask yourself, how does the public school system differ from a large privately run corporation? Are there more efficient methods that could be employed by the govt that you can identify? For instance, in the private sector, managers are given raises or bonuses for saving their company money while increasing productivity (the higher ups love it when you come in under budget and still get the job done). The govt. system often penalizes its employees for saving money by requiring they spend their budgets or loose that amount of funding the next year (one poster mentioned dumpsters full of supplies to be thrown out outside of some schools). I've heard horror stories of teachers taking home huge amounts of supplies that didn't get used instead of saving it for the next year (thats thievery in my book). The private corporation fires workers that don't work well, or who's positions don't serve a function. The govt. doesn't seem to really care if their employees are working (walk down to your local zoning office on a wed. for instance). And the more positions they can create the better, that just gives more power to the higher ups. Our government does make attempts to appear efficient to the public whenever possible (a veneer). But its fundamental structure is screwed up. Its not run on efficiency and innovation (as a large or small business in the private sector), its run on waste and stagnation. Why, why not? Its a freak'n monopoly with unlimited funding (as long as you can dupe the citizenry to pay up(you rarely see the school system saying "hey we got plenty of money, our staff is so efficient in fact, we've under spent our budget. Not even in the best of times).
The other govt. identities you mention have the same problems as the public school systems (to greater and lesser degrees). Perhaps, whats confusing is that police and fire fighting jobs appeal to alot of guys and gals that are x-military, or otherwise pretty driven individuals, who share conservative Republican ideals such as small government, low taxes, hard on crime, etc. That doesn't mean the system they work for isn't screwed up, and that massive waste can't be cut. Also, the leadership of these entities are often more liberal then their constituents (the police chiefs of most states come to mind).
that would be Speedos with matching berret.
