As Twitchy reported earlier Thursday, SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk tweeted his commitment to “fund fixing the water in any house in Flint that has water contamination above FDA levels.”
Flint’s mayor was anxious to get Musk on the phone to discuss a plan of action, but Bloomberg — the business news people — seemed to take the news as “an ominous sign” in an opinion piece.
Tesla's CEO is fixing Flint's water.
Domino's Pizza is filling potholes.
Salesforce is reducing homelessness.The fact that it’s private companies taking these steps is an ominous sign for the nation https://t.co/Vx4zEpvhqL https://t.co/dqUsh3WE8U
— Bloomberg Opinion (@bopinion) July 11, 2018
Noah Smith writes:
All of these initiatives, in and of themselves, are good things. It’s good for potholes to be fixed, homeless people to be housed, and traffic congestion to be relieved. But the fact that it’s private companies taking these steps is an ominous sign for the nation. It suggests a breakdown in the government’s ability or willingness to carry out one of its core functions — the efficient provision of public goods.
This is crazy, but hear us out — some people might think problems actually getting fixed is a good sign for the nation.
One man’s “ominous” is another man’s “wonderful”
— ? (@birdarchist) July 12, 2018
"Ominous" is a pretty weird way to spell "Awesome"
— Tim Peterson (@tim3048) July 12, 2018
Why is this “ominous”? Getting clean water into homes is a good thing.
— luminaria98 (@Luminaria98) July 12, 2018
False. This is not ominous! It is good. Private sector is more effective with dollars than govt.
— Blank Face (@ryandunord) July 12, 2018
It's only ominous because it exposes the fact that gov't is increasingly inept and too corrupt to do anything they are supposed to be doing. Private companies can do most of the things gov't has taken on far more efficiently and effectively.
— Jim White (@JimWhite1960) July 11, 2018
Awesome, not ominous. Government is already the reason for the potholes and bad water, they can’t also be the solution.
— Jonathan E Lancaster (@mostlyjonathan) July 12, 2018
There’s nothing ominous about any of those acts despite the fact that they can be spun off as self serving. In fact, it’s a positive sign that something is being done, what’s negative is that the government has nothing to do with them.
— HaashirAS (@HaashirAS) July 11, 2018
I don't see how private companies stepping up to do good for society can possibly be construed as ominous.
— Sol Racht (@sol_racht) July 12, 2018
Yeah it’s terrible that private companies are trying to help their communities
— Carmelo Tony (@JacobMarsee) July 12, 2018
Are private charities ominous, too?
— hiems libertatis ❄️?️? (@arslibertatis) July 12, 2018
God forbid people do good things for one another on their own. Let me guess, charitable donations are evil too?
— Cameron Ervin (@CamAErvin) July 12, 2018
Better than public-private partnership giveaways and scams that will result after going ahead with whatever comes out of the next 16 Infrastructure Weeks.
— Frank Patrick (@fpatrick) July 12, 2018
Which reminds us: Hey, California, how’s that high-speed train coming along?
https://twitter.com/DFortean/status/1017458238181265410
Yes, how horrible that we can solve problems without a government program.
— August Oster (@realajoster) July 12, 2018
If the government did its job these companies wouldn't have to do it for them.
— ❤️ Jayvie ❤️ (@OneFineJay) July 12, 2018
Stop doing what the govt can’t! https://t.co/88ScpXcx3E
— Matt’s Idea Shop (@MattsIdeaShop) July 12, 2018
Government is always like this. That's why many of us want as little of it as possible.
— Keith Maniac, from Guatemala (@CutItOutPutin) July 12, 2018
When did Bloomberg become socialistic? Our government has been poorly run most of my 70 plus years. I applaud private initiative. I trust Dominos more than our governments,
— Larry Stuart (@teepa528) July 12, 2018
https://twitter.com/andrei_st_n/status/1017510322754777088
Private entities now understand the community as a core constituency and align their company’s mission while still creating shareholder value. This is a positive evolution in corporate governance and should be applauded
— Legal Investor (@Legal_Investor) July 11, 2018
Private entities have to be as efficient and effective as possible to reduce cost and protect their brand. Government has no such restrictions.
— J (@jmesbrks) July 12, 2018
Corporate charitable giving is new? Great overview of current corporate initiatives, although there are many unmentioned, but this kind of thing has been around for a long, long, long, long, long, long time.
— Joe Franscella (@JoeFranscella) July 11, 2018
It’s actually how the American government was originally meant to operate; limited.
— Carl Malone (@TheMailMan421) July 12, 2018
Related:
TERRIFIED: Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pulls the public library card on the GOP https://t.co/7z3MKC6F1E
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 6, 2018
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