$70 million paid to republican PR firm with failing results

[Gaspar]

I think you've mistakenly landed in the wrong point in time on this sphere. Medieval times would have suited you well. I could see you partying with a group of Druids as well.

Good luck waiting for the Libertarian revolution ( I think the Beatles made a song about that). Meanwhile, you'll just have to make do with criticizing, sniping, hindering, and of course, fine tuning your Q and beer drinking skills.

Must be hard trudging through life as angry as you are.

[AquaMan]

 I thought the same thing about you. How much alike we are yet worlds apart.

[Gaspar]

I thought the same thing about you. How much alike we are yet worlds apart.

Here I go waxing philosophical again. . .

Hopefully I never come across as angry, because I rarely am.  I simply enjoy the observation of politics. I like to point out the recurrent failures of modern liberalism over classical liberalism, with each step, and policy leading insolvency and reform.  But I suppose the most entertaining part is not the philosophy differences, but the personality characteristics that require some liberals to constantly defend, redefine and qualify each idea.

I guess the basic premise, and something that you can take comfort in, is that liberalism triumphs in the long run over free-market ideals, because it is human nature to want without effort.  The more success people have in acquiring security, health, food, shelter, and comfort in general without exchange for production, the more likely they are to put people in power who will promise them maximum comfort in exchange for minimal effort, and the more success those politicians have at getting elected the more their rhetoric turns to promises of unsustainable comfort without risk.  As production diminishes wealth in general becomes the target, and eventually the system collapses in the name of equality, as the takers overcome the makers.

We can't be angry about this.  It's simply the natural progression of politics, and a cycle we are historically predisposed to repeat.  The hope is in that we, some of us, through promoting that understanding, may be able to delay, slow or perhaps even halt that progression.  

For Hoss:
A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until a majority of voters discover that they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury. – Alexander Tytler

Political leaders in capitalist countries who cheer the collapse of socialism in other countries continue to favor socialist solutions in their own. They know the words, but they have not learned the tune. – Milton Friedman

A society that puts equality ... ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom. – Milton Friedman

The broad masses of a population are more amenable to the appeal of rhetoric than to any other force. – Adolf Hitler

Democracy is indispensable to Socialism. – V.I. Lenin

Democracy is the road to Socialism. – Karl Marx

[RecycleMichael]

Back to the topic...

Shouldn't we stop doing this? Is anyone out there in TulsaNow world disagree?

We are giving millions of public dollars to a partisan PR group to hold seminars about marriage. I don't know anyone who has attended one and I have never heard of them being held in Tulsa.

The results say that we are failing miserably. Why don't we stop?

[Gaspar]

Back to the topic...

Shouldn't we stop doing this? Is anyone out there in TulsaNow world disagree?

We are giving millions of public dollars to a partisan PR group to hold seminars about marriage. I don't know anyone who has attended one and I have never heard of them being held in Tulsa.

The results say that we are failing miserably. Why don't we stop?

I agree.  We shouldn't be giving PR groups public money to promote things related to political matters.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/29/contractors-earn-big-for-pr-blitz-on-obamacare/?page=all

[RecycleMichael]

I looked up their seminars...

80% of them are in Oklahoma County. Here are some of the titles...

"Love Notes"
"Character Education"
"Walking the Line" (held at a prison)
"Hip Hop + Change Relationship"
"Heart and Soul Singles Workshop"
"Within my Reach" (for singles)

What a great use of tax dollars.

[Conan71]

Back to the topic...

Shouldn't we stop doing this? Is anyone out there in TulsaNow world disagree?

We are giving millions of public dollars to a partisan PR group to hold seminars about marriage. I don't know anyone who has attended one and I have never heard of them being held in Tulsa.

The results say that we are failing miserably. Why don't we stop?

Okay, I'll bite.  This falls into an area that government really has no business getting into and, as a social matter, really cannot affect without banning divorce outright which would be ludicrous.  The issues of teen pregnancy, out of wedlock marriages, divorce, and poor attitudes in families toward educating their young are moral issues, not failures of government.  No matter what sort of intervention you try and put into it, it's simply not going to have an affect in people who have no self-respect, no sense of family, and no respect for others in their lives.

One of the incentives of the program was to give a discount on marriage licenses.  If two people are really committed to staying married, many churches provide pre-marital counseling to their parishioners. I took a course with my second wife at Tulsa's Family & Children's Services.  I'm not sure if this is the same program or not, but it qualified for the discount for our marriage license:

http://www.fcsok.org/services/tulsa-adult-family-counseling/premarital-counseling-tulsa/

The course apparently didn't work because that marriage was an epic FAIL.

MC and I didn't take a course and I can never envision a day without her.  She will tell you the same thing.  Both partners have to be in it for the long haul and no amount of government intervention or education on the matter can drive that.

It's much like throwing more money at education believing that it will improve outcomes when most problems with education come from within a child's home, not the schoolhouse.  The same holds true for marriage.  If the family isn't strong, the government cannot do one thing to make it stronger.

So, yes, I agree this is a waste of money and needs to end.  I wasn't aware there had been so much spent on this and somehow, I'm thinking there was a small fee to take the class so it doesn't make sense why $70 million of federal funds would have wound up in this program.

[Gaspar]

Okay, I'll bite.  This falls into an area that government really has no business getting into and, as a social matter, really cannot affect without banning divorce outright which would be ludicrous.  The issues of teen pregnancy, out of wedlock marriages, divorce, and poor attitudes in families toward educating their young are moral issues, not failures of government.  No matter what sort of intervention you try and put into it, it's simply not going to have an affect in people who have no self-respect, no sense of family, and no respect for others in their lives.

One of the incentives of the program was to give a discount on marriage licenses.  If two people are really committed to staying married, many churches provide pre-marital counseling to their parishioners. I took a course with my second wife at Tulsa's Family & Children's Services.  I'm not sure if this is the same program or not, but it qualified for the discount for our marriage license:

http://www.fcsok.org/services/tulsa-adult-family-counseling/premarital-counseling-tulsa/

The course apparently didn't work because that marriage was an epic FAIL.

MC and I didn't take a course and I can never envision a day without her.  She will tell you the same thing.  Both partners have to be in it for the long haul and no amount of government intervention or education on the matter can drive that.

It's much like throwing more money at education believing that it will improve outcomes when most problems with education come from within a child's home, not the schoolhouse.  The same holds true for marriage.  If the family isn't strong, the government cannot do one thing to make it stronger.

So, yes, I agree this is a waste of money and needs to end.  I wasn't aware there had been so much spent on this and somehow, I'm thinking there was a small fee to take the class so it doesn't make sense why $70 million of federal funds would have wound up in this program.

I'm just happy that RM is becoming aware of wasteful spending.   I have some additional links I could share, but that nut-job Tom Coburn already put most of them in a book!

$120 million in retirement and disability benefits went to federal employees who died in 2011.

The Obama Administration spent $10 million in 2011 to create a Pakistani Sesame Street.


. . .and $634 Million to create a non-functional website that will be rebuilt for almost as much. That's over a Trillion in federal funds!


Lets start cutting waste in a non-partisan manner!

[Gaspar]

How about this. . .Every year the GSA still pays $24 million on a contract for typewriters that it no longer uses or buys.   

I need to get in the typewriter business!

[Gaspar]

RM I have emailed our friend Jim Bridenstine and requested a statement/explanation.  I have also requested a review by Coburn.

Lets see if they listen. Cherp cherp cherp.