“Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” – Chinese Proverb
We must be clinically insane. Albert Einstein once suggested insanity to be the act of “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Democratic leaders are discussing yet another massive government expenditure in reaction to our economic problems, and this time, it’s focused on job creation [1].
Wait, what?
I’m sorry, but I could have sworn that job creation was a major component of the $787 stimulus bill that was passed earlier this year. Of course, I could be wrong; maybe the real purpose of that bill was a vehicle to which politicians could attach over 9000 earmarks [2]. President Obama had initially promised that earmarks wouldn’t be included in the stimulus bill [3], but we know by now that our commander in chief and congress have no problem reneging on their word or worse, outright lying to us.
Sarcasm and cynicism aside, the first stimulus was intended to save jobs, create jobs, and provide a “jolt” to the economy [4]. According to the government’s recovery.gov,, $159 billion has been awarded, but not even $37 billion has been paid out. It’s panned out such that the spending is trickling in, unemployment is still spiking, 2.2% higher than the highest level they promised it would go, and we have spent billions of dollars on thousands of earmarks which have resulted in no net assistance to employment. Why would anyone in their right mind believe that this time the government will make good on their promises?
Furthermore, methods of funding being considered for this next bill include use of TARP repayments and a tax on internet gaming [1]. The TARP repayments were originally intended to go back to the taxpayers as the program was a loan, not an expenditure. And the internet tax amazingly flies in the face of the administration’s push for net neutrality, a policy which aims to keep companies from restricting or charging extra for access to any site or sector of the internet [5].
Ultimately, in the case of the TARP payments, the government is taking money it promised to return. In the case of an internet gaming tax, the government is trying to tell private business not to control customer internet behavior while pushing to do it themselves. Washington may as well ask for scuba equipment for Christmas for fear of drowning in their own hypocrisy.
1. “House Leaders Push for Jobs Bill,” The Wall Street Journal, November 18, 2009.
2. “Earmark Reform? Stimulus Bill Contains 9000,” cleveland.com, February 22, 2009.
3. “Obama Will Ban Earmarks from Stimulus Bill,” cnn.com, January 6, 2009.
4. “Obama Presses for Quick Jolt to the Economy,” nytimes.com, January 23, 2009.
5. “Fed Mulls Rules, Fees to Spur Net Access,” The Wall Street Journal, November 18, 2009.
