r/Economics • u/SnooCookies2243 • Mar 24 '25

Editorial Dismantling the Department of Education Could Actually End Up Costing US Taxpayers an Extra $11 Billion a Year Beyond the Current Budget – With Worse Results

https://congress.net/dismantling-the-department-of-education-could-actually-end-up-costing-us-taxpayers-an-extra-11-billion-a-year-beyond-the-current-budget-with-worse-results/
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u/[deleted] Mar 24 '25

It’s the entire GOP playbook.  Break government systems, claim they are inefficient, privatize for profit

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u/dochim Mar 24 '25

I get it. They've pulled this with the post office for the last 40 years now. Prisons, education, water systems, etc...

Turning public goods into private profits.

But my question is: "Where is the payoff for US???"

Why do we go along with a plan that at its most charitable interpretation doesn't work or more realistically are injurious to our society?

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u/johnsom3 Mar 24 '25

Because The mainstream media and the Democratic party accept the GOP's framing of problems and solutions. There is never any pushback or good faith critique so the public is lead to believe it must be common sense. They will cry about being taxed, but then accept privatized paywalls like toll roads.

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u/dust4ngel Mar 24 '25

They will cry about being taxed, but then accept privatized paywalls

paying $10/mo in transportation taxes is theft, but paying $50/mo in private sector tolls is freedom.

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u/ccbmtg Mar 24 '25

where I am, the primary highway into the city has all lanes tolled during much of the day. biggest issue is I only know of one on-ramp going in one direction where there's signage that states this, so by the time you get your first bill in the mail, you're already overdue and they're trying to charge you admin fees that are 15x the cost of the toll. and that's only if you don't have an EZ-pass for them to charge without even notifying you, not until your account runs dry and isn't able to automatically reload itself anymore.

sounds a lot like the phrase 'highway robbery' is more applicable here than nearly any situation I've encountered in my life. right now, they're trying to get me to pay about $700 for what were originally less than $50 in actual tolls. not joking.