Give me some examples of government working really well in your home country.

[Derek]

 

[rc]

Ooh, this is different!

Well I'm pretty fond of the CBC here in Canada.  Because it's a crown corporation, funded by the government and the CEO is appointed by the government, people like to say CBC is a propaganda machine.  A lot of conservatives say it has a liberal agenda, and since we've had a conservative government for a while, now some lefties say it has a rightwing agenda.  I get tired of that partisanship.

What I like about the CBC is its broad programming.  Through their podcasts I've been exposed to a lot of interesting topics and music that would never have reached my attention otherwise.  I really dig that sort of thing.  Gives me food for thought every day while I'm at work.

[richard black]

Blimey, start the day with a tricky one, eh? About the only right thing I can remember the UK government doing recently is continuing to deny Mohammed Fayed a UK passport.

[morningstar]

Hmmm...they...let me get back to you on that one.

[cmg]

[hands frozen on buzzer]  Contestant rendered speechless. 

[ahinton]

Above are all those that occur to me at the present time...

Best,

Alistair

[camstrings]

Minimum wage in UK. It was said by business that it would lead to mass unemployment, thankfully proved wrong.
Not so good: setting a lower minimum rate for the young, which sends out all the wrong messages. 

[thalbergmad]

nil return

[Derek]

Ooh, this is different!

Well I'm pretty fond of the CBC here in Canada.  Because it's a crown corporation, funded by the government and the CEO is appointed by the government, people like to say CBC is a propaganda machine.  A lot of conservatives say it has a liberal agenda, and since we've had a conservative government for a while, now some lefties say it has a rightwing agenda.  I get tired of that partisanship.

What I like about the CBC is its broad programming.  Through their podcasts I've been exposed to a lot of interesting topics and music that would never have reached my attention otherwise.  I really dig that sort of thing.  Gives me food for thought every day while I'm at work.

That's amusing, the thing that prompted me to post this thread was that I had been listening to NPR here in the United States, and often they have on an interesting person or topic that I never would have thought about or heard about otherwise. I think they do a pretty good job. And similar to the CBC, it has been accused of both left and right wing bias, so they must be doing their job fairly well.

Aside from public radio/tv though...what else works well? Barack Obama seems to have faith that he can "use a scalpal" and get rid of programs that do not work and beef up ones that do work...but I would like more concrete evidence that government programs in general, if implemented properly, can work well. Otherwise,  despite Obama's very good intentions, I don't think I can vote for him.