"We got the sheeple now. Let's keep on celebratin'."
Posted on 07/01/2009 6:01:29 PM PDT by Kaslin
The old-fashioned term "taxpayers' money" has recently resurfaced in Washington — but only to describe some of the TARP funds used in the government takeover of auto companies and financial institutions.
"Taxpayers' money" is almost never used in Washington to describe any of the other dollars in the $3.5 trillion federal budget. These dollars, divided into familiar categories of entitlement and discretionary spending, are thought of by most Washingtonians as the "government's money."
Washington is awash in money — dollars taken by the IRS from the people who earned them and dollars borrowed all around the world.
In Washington, success is measured by how many new federal spending programs get enacted. Washington's champion spenders — from the president on down — appear to suffer from a delusional psychosis about money. They believe that federal spending is a healing balm. It has magical powers. If applied often enough in large enough quantities, it will cure everything.
Applied in the right places, federal money also enhances their political powers and control. That is the main reason for thousands of spending programs added to the federal budget since 1965. President Obama is now expanding federal spending by a whopping 30%.
Privileged Washingtonians forget that real people have had to work, save and invest, often at great sacrifice, to produce the money that government spends so extravagantly. In pursuit of their careers, federal spenders pretend not to know that the taxpayers of America would have been greatly benefited had they not been forced to send their money to Washington.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
I would guess more than 60%.
Seems like a perfect political issue for the GOP.
We could frame every political issue in terms of a “Wealth Transfer” from the hard working risk takers in the Republican Party to the scofflaw deadbeats in the Democratic Party.
It would be a powerful antidote to the current political choke hold that Dems have on race, gender, and tolerance issues.
After reading the article, I googled multiplier effect, and was surprised that it was so low. There is a Brownback JEC report that says no one really knows what the effect is.
One thing that was interesting is that the multiplier is higher, the higher the marginal propensity to consume. This leads to the conclusion, stimulus money would be better if target at lower income classes.
parsy, who thought so
That is assuming that what is consumed is created by others in the private economy; it is far less true if from tax revenue transfer payments - the latter has a much lower multiplier effect, perhaps less than unity, especially if what is consumed is produced outside the national economy.
I wonder. It seems to me like a dollar is a dollar, and maybe better if the gov’t prints it off the presses. I still think there is a qualitative nuance to all this that can not be calculated. I saw something called the Lucas effect during my google.
parsy, who keeps trying to learn
But the golden goose only has so much Au in it's ovaries. Then their goose will be cooked along with those of us who pull the wagon.
I recall reading a cogent argument that the best possible stimulus package would be massively increased counterfeiting, having the same effect on money supply as Bernanke’s helicopter drop, but not allowing the Federal octopus to grow.
"We got the sheeple now. Let's keep on celebratin'."
So North Korea may yet save us! I have read they are into massive counterfeiting of U S currency. I don’t know what is going to get us out of this mess. The biggest problem I see is that so many jobs in US are actually non-necessary. You know, like why does the country need people selling $70 dollar tennis shoes at the mall? In a depression, we’ll all go with Wal-mart brands for $9.99.
parsy, the eternal questioner.
Not sure I agree, specifically as to American democracy.
Self reliance, enterprise, financial risk, and stoicism and perseverance in the event of financial failure are still widely admired here.
In fact, I think that long term financial failure, or long term professional failure, are the only parts of modern American life that remain susceptible to “shame.”
If the GOP focused every campaign on “How Long Before You Guys Pay Your Own Way,” I think the Democrats would be wrong footed, off balance, and playing defense in every election.
Keep your arms and legs in the cab, kids, and don't unbuckle until the ride comes to a full stop!
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