Ok, Ok, I concede that on the scale of the war in Iraq, the deliberate bankrupting of the United States government, rampant cronyism, the highjacking of foreign policy by the Vice President and the neocons, a lousy healthcare system, inability to respond to real, not imagined, disasters, etc., ad nauseum, this is a little thing.
But is it?
How about private ripoffs of state agency services?
More after the fold:
I need a copy of my birth certificate. That is required as I apply for Social Security retirement benefits. No big deal. All I have to do is go to the website of the South Carolina
Department of Health and Environmental Control and make application.
Ahhhh...There's the rub. I need this fairly quickly, but the web page informs me that:
The usual turnaround time for requests received by mail is more than 4 weeks from the date the Division of Vital Records receives the request. For expedited service, please click the 'Expedited Service' tab.
"Expedited Services" takes me to a private firm -- STILL ON A STATE WEB PAGE -- where I can pay an additional $12.95 for "expedited services." Vitalchek, the private firm, can get records from the agency in a few days.
Anybody want to wager that Vitalchek isn't firmly wired to the Republican Party? That the agency isn't encouraged to drag their feet when handling citizens' requests?
What really frosts my butt is that "privatization," instead of creating efficiencies, creates barriers between citizens and the government. They might as well be allowed to dig moats around state office buildings and charge tolls.
As I said, my personal frustration is a small story. But I'm wondering whether it isn't bigger that we realize.
Anyone else encountering this crap? Any comments?