The Ants Go Marching

At the Cato Blog, there is a good post on the new bail out (since the first 700 billion didn't get the job done). It's mostly about all the lobbyists lining up to get a piece of the pie.

The Stimulus Lobbying Frenzy
Posted by David Boaz

Every company and industry wanted to be sure that it would be eligible for some of the money, and members of Congress worked to slip their constituents and campaign donors into the bill’s 451 pages. By the time it passed, it included special provisions for Puerto Rican rum producers, auto race tracks, and corporations operating in American Samoa (such as Starkist, which is headquartered in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s district). It required that insurance companies pay for mental health benefits and granted tax benefits for victims of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and makers of children’s wooden arrows….

No sooner was the article published than more examples fill the media: “A Republican [in Ohio] called it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” “Cities, towns ready to vie for stimulus funds.” “Road Builders Compete for Slice of Stimulus.” “West Michigan’s stimulus wish list.” “A State with a Wish List for Stimulus Spending.” “Steel industry lobbyists seem to have persuaded the House to insert a “Buy American” provision in the stimulus bill it passed last week.” “JetBlue Goes to Washington to Discuss Economic Stimulus Plan.”

When you lay out a picnic, you get ants. And this is the biggest picnic in the history of pork-filled picnicking.

The reason government bail-outs (in the form of spending) doesn't work is because the more the gov spends the more people save (and thereby don't spend). I believe that spending is what gets out of a recession, but only when the people spend, and that wont happen until the government stops digging us into an insurmountable hole.