"It profits me but little that a vigilant authority always protects the tranquillity of my pleasures and constantly averts all dangers from my path, without my care or concern, if this same authority is the absolute master of my liberty and my life."

--Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Ecommerce v. Egovernment

I happened to be thinking of refinancing our mortgage this week, and, almost by accident, typed my name and email address and phone number into a "Lending Tree" website that had popped up on the Internet.   Within thirty seconds -- I kid you not -- the phone rang, and a mortgage lender from one of the national firms was hawking his wares.   Within ten minutes we got five phone calls.   Within the same ten minutes (and probably sooner, I just hadn't checked), I got five emails from the same five different mortgage lenders, who were all too willing to provide me information about possible refinancing at different terms and different rates.  

That's how the private sector does business ca. 2013.  

Meanwhile, here's what the government's attempt at a healthcare web-based "marketplace" looks like:














Compare and contrast!

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