Advocates of free markets have been trying tell the tax-and-spend and borrow- and- spend crowd since Adam, ( that’s Adam Smith) that central planners in government just don’t have the information (not to mention the motivati0n) to allocate resources effectively. Seems like the stimulus package is just another example of a billion (or two or three) of taxpayer money, and your retirement money, and your children’s money down the government rathole.
Accdording to this article on yahoo news today
Some town leaders say the federal stimulus package, with its promise of creating jobs, is neglecting to invest in the cornerstones of community life, from new city halls to recreation centers. There’s some money to hire police officers, but no money to rebuild the stations they work in. The opposite’s true for firefighters. No money to hire more, but at least some funding to improve firehouses. Money for wind turbines? Yes. New traffic signs? Yes. Hybrid car discounts? Yes. Money for new libraries? No. New town halls? No. Swimming pools? No. School athletic stadiums? No. While there may be some money to plunk solar panels on that aging municipal building, there’s no money set aside to replace it.
“This is trickle-down stimulus,” said Joseph Fernandes, town administrator in Plainville, Mass., a town of about 8,000 south of Boston. Fernandes was hoping for help building a new, $12.5 million fire, police and town hall complex, which he said could put people to work as quickly as some of the highway projects receiving stimulus dollars.
Gee- could it be that we can make better decisions with our own money than the bureaucrats in Washington? What a concept? Why doesn’t someone tell the President?
The article continues:
Early on, many state officials hoped the stimulus money would arrive in huge blocks with few strings. Most states pulled together what amounted to massive statewide wish lists, raising hopes for municipal makeovers. In the end, Congress opted to funnel much of the money through existing federal channels and created a confusing hodgepodge of rules about which local projects might be eligible. “Does it really matter if it’s … a police station or a fire station?” Fernandes said. “At the end of the day it’s money that would have to be spent eventually.”
Let me see if I have this straight. It doesn’t really matter what it’s spent on as long as it gets spent? So we may as well just drop it out of helicopters after all. At least then the bubble gets spread evenly. Oh – but make sure they are green helicopters.