Governmental Inefficiency - USCG

[Brent Swain]

Gord
Sounds like you work for the government . Do you?
Is this self interest speaking?

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Brent Swain

Gord
Sounds like you work for the government .
1. Do you?
2. Is this self interest speaking?

1. No.
2. Yes, of course.

[DeepFrz]

I have difficulty understanding the mind set of people who drive on (probably) some of the worlds best highways, have enough disposable income to afford a luxury item (such as a boat, however humble) and then complain about having to pay taxes. They complain about "big" government and then complain when a government organization doesn't have the manpower to process their paper work as quickly as they like. They complain about paying taxes and then complain when the waterways are not dredged deep enough or often enough.

Many of these same people then complain about the security systems in the country that inhibit their movements and then vote for the parties that have built these systems and would expand these same security systems further if given the chance.

I agree with the people that have said we need "better" government, not necessarily smaller government.

I will say that I have never grumbled about the amount of taxes I have paid in the past because I know that much of that tax money made life better for me. Of course I am a little different as I almost never shop at Wal-Mart (4 or 5 times that I can remember and once was for someone else).

End of rant... ;-}

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

I think the FCC does a great job. Everything ties to a single number, the FRN. I upgraded my ham license recently and it showed up in the database in ONE DAY. Nice. My first radio license in 1975(ish) took weeks.

Like Capt Bill's post - I guess the efficiency may be tied to your computer Karma and other supernatural influences. It took me two weeks and two calls to get my FCC licenses renewed and re-issued with the new equipment. The FRN system was the main problem. Same thing happens every year for me with the Customs Decal. This year everything went smoothly - only 3 attempts to navigate the system to enter my "order." Then I get an email from some Chinese named guy saying he got my decal returned back in the mail. Just a personal email address and asking for my address and stuff. First time in all the years they have been sending me the decal to the same address that it was not delivered. Sounded like an identity scam but it actually was legitimate.
- - So get out the incense and put on mystical music when attempting to navigate the government internet access and maybe you will have better luck.
- - Still it is better than all that "snail mail" system of days gone by.

[David M]

For all these types of things, vessel documentation, TWIC card, captains licenses, FCC radio licenses etc...it is always wise to do these things months before you actually need them.

[kd3pc]

"I will say that I have never grumbled about the amount of taxes I have paid in the past because I know that much of that tax money made life better for me."

I guess I see it differently,and will grumble - having worked mostly full time since I was 14. I would love to be able to shop at more exclusive stores, but I simply can not afford to. I have had the luxury of being behind some of my hard earned, taxpayer money in line at Walmart the first of the month.....and it galls me to see well dressed, fingernails done, hair in the latest styles with two or three kids in tow (none of whom are clean or well groomed) with two buggies loaded to the brim with filet, name brand juices, seafood, name brand breads and cereals.....all courtesy of my tax paying. Then they go outside and sell the rest of the card to buy cigs and beer, at pennies on the dollar. They then go home to their gov't provided homes/health care/child care and want for little, that the rest of us work for.

Just last night I watched the news (they all agreed on this, so no fox/cnn/msnbc bashing) and heard about $8B USD in the latest of several spending bills that they briefly described and again I was appalled that my tax dollars were going to such obvious Pork projects

My niece, on the dole here in the US, gets $1200 monthly (and has for MANY years - we can not put a MOM out on the street) for section 8 housing voucher, Medicaid for her self, her 14 yo that lives with her mom (they don't get along and the older kid got tired of babysitting/being Mom to the two little ones, so her mom can go out drinking/playing poker etc), her 1 yo and her 2 yo - all by a different father. She gets WIC/EBT to the tune of almost $2K a month for the whole lot and some sort of social security or state disability. AND she has worked a total of about 3 years her entire life of 35 years on the planet. Thanks to my hard work, and TAXES.

SO, I DO grumble about paying taxes because at least in my state I don't even have the nice roads, I do have a nice boat, but it sure wasn't because I had enough disposable income - due to the GOvt' - I don't understand how they correlate - it IS because I worked my butt off, lived within my means, shopped at Walmart and STILL PAID my taxes and house payment and tuition for my kid.

Smaller gov't, more efficient gov't, and dramatic cuts in spending...and no it does not have to be cops/teachers/social security/medicare....the Pols just use these targets to protect THEIR best interests. Bring our boys and girls home, and quit babysitting the worlds bullies - might save a few dollars, put those same kids to work defending our nation, or to come up with a feasible REPLACEMENT for oil products - THAT would save a few more $$ and instill pride in this once great nation. Where is the future?

More taxes and More spending by the gov't on more welfare/programs/pork while the number of taxable incomes declines exponentially is simply NOT sustainable, we are living the proof as we speak

[David M]

I understand your frustrations and agree with a number of them but this is not to the forum to go on major discussions about politics, high taxes etc. The idea is to try to keep the discussion directly related to boats in some way. These types of discussions always start an unpleasant war of some sort and then the thread needs to be closed. Believe it or not, us mods do not like to close a thread because we have no other choice.

[AnchorageGuy]

We have been cruising for a lot of years and there are work arounds to every situation. First, your documentation does not have to be renewed at your scheduled renewal time. You can request a renewal at any time. If we are cruising outside the country we renew just before we leave, keeping in mind how long it might take, That way we leave with a fresh document. If we are out cruising longer and we know the document will take 6 months to renew and get to us, we apply for renewal 7 months in advance. That way we are traveling with a correctly dated document until the new one arrives and no problems with officials outside the country. If you cruise a lot and deal with bureaucracy in foreign countries you learn to work the system no matter how dysfunctional the system might be. It is all part of the adventure. Chuck

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by Waterwayguy

We have been cruising for a lot of years and there are work arounds to every situation. First, your documentation does not have to be renewed at your scheduled renewal time. You can request a renewal at any time. If we are cruising outside the country we renew just before we leave, keeping in mind how long it might take, That way we leave with a fresh document. If we are out cruising longer and we know the document will take 6 months to renew and get to us, we apply for renewal 7 months in advance. That way we are traveling with a correctly dated document until the new one arrives and no problems with officials outside the country. If you cruise a lot and deal with bureaucracy in foreign countries you learn to work the system no matter how dysfunctional the system might be. It is all part of the adventure. Chuck

Absolutely very true - mostly. USCG Documentation can be renewed at any time by going to their website and downloading Form 1280 and sending it in. You will be issued an new certificate dated from the beginning of the next month after you sent in the form. But then - if you are outside the country - you need to get it to you. Not always easy.
- - My sister who gets my mail usually hi-res scans the document and sends me the jpeg's and then I print it out on the boat. With a little skill they look just like the originals. If you keep it in a slightly worn plastic sleeve the officials think it is the original.
- - But other items like the Customs decal and other licenses etc. all seem to be arranged for the land-living boating public with total disregard for the world cruiser. It would be magical if the Fed's, etc., had a system set up for the world cruiser who has to wrestle with month long snail mail on average. Something like being able to download the documents from their website rather than having to have hard-copy mailed around the world.
- - Ah, maybe in the future the Fed's, etc. will see the cost savings of not having to snail mail everything. PDF's can be locked to help reduce forgeries and the documents are really not all that "security" sensitive anyway.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by svcambria

(In California it takes six months to get a change of address on a driver's license;

Six months? I wish it were true! My California drivers license expired in June. I renewed it online. Seven and a half months later, I'm till waiting to receive the new license.

[Khagan1227]

Just imagine what would happen to the processing time of Coast Guard documents should we go to war. During war (or other emergency designated by the President) the Coast Guard reverts to the control of the U.S. Navy, who, like Homeland Security, is tasked with the defense of the country. Different branches of the government, same mission task and LOTS of confusion and power tripping.

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by Khagan1227

Just imagine what would happen to the processing time of Coast Guard documents should we go to war. . . .

Excuse me, I thought the USA was currently at "war" - in two different countries . . .
- - But in any and all cases, the National Documentation Center is not a "fighting" arm of the USCG - it is a bunch of clerks punching computers and processing mail in Falling Waters, West Virginia. That's pretty far away from any coastal water.
- - Service parts of any government seem to be short changed when comes budget time as we have no organized "lobby" to assert our interests. That can be good or bad, depending upon your needs.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by David M

I understand your frustrations and agree with a number of them but this is not to the forum to go on major discussions about politics, high taxes etc. The idea is to try to keep the discussion directly related to boats in some way. These types of discussions always start an unpleasant war of some sort and then the thread needs to be closed. Believe it or not, us mods do not like to close a thread because we have no other choice.

David,

This begs the question:

Sailing Anarchy has a place for political discussion. How about one here?

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Sailing Anarchy has a place for political discussion. How about one here?

LOL! That be own it's own recommendation not to

[David M]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

David,

This begs the question:

Sailing Anarchy has a place for political discussion. How about one here?

When this topic is brought up, the mods along with the owner of the website do not want to take this website in that direction. We believe there are plenty of websites out there where people can vent their feelings and frustrations with politics, politicians, wasteful government spending, taxes, abortion and religion. My guess is that most members do not come here to read about these topics. They mostly want to read about something they love, boats.

Other forums discuss topics outside of boats much better than we ever could. We don't want to censor anyone, that's the honest truth. We just want to keep the forum as a whole on topic, with a little drift here and there being acceptable.

Yes we have discussed a special section where people can vent about anything. The reason we still say no is because it would still have to be moderated so it does not turn into a place full of rudeness, disrespect and flame wars, which would be a waste of moderator time. It would be nothing more than one thread after another which must be closed, not because of topic, but because of unacceptable behavior. Other "anarchistic" sites are better suited for this.