A comment I left at another blog in reference to several “Halliburton-style” tales of private companies overbilling or otherwise defrauding the government:
If I paid a dogsitter to watch my dog, I’d realize pretty darn fast if he were in fact not watching her.The indignation here should be directed toward the government bureaucrats who allowed these abuses to persist at least as much as toward the abusers themselves.
Unless, that is, one believes that government is always saintly and the private sector is always devil-spawned.
Stated differently, Halliburton may or may not be an ethical enterprise, but it can only be unethical to the extent that big government (NOT “Republican government”) allows it to be unethical.
The less that government does, the fewer opportunities for waste, fraud and abuse that will arise.
The only reason there are con artists is because there are marks who let themselves be conned. The only reason there are corporate con artists is because there are government marks who let themselves be conned. The only difference is who pays for the mark’s incompetence.
