Legal Plunder - 2009
“But how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime.”
So said a French philosopher named Bastiat in his book "The Law". The Recovery and Reinvestment act of 2009 reflects this philosophy in the amount of dollars being devoted to programs that will in no way stimulate the economy, and in fact do nothing more than provide a payback to the electorate that voted the Democrats into office, increases social welfare programs, and increase the size of the government.
On January 28, the House passed the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 by a 244-188 vote. All but 11 Democrats voted for the bill, and all 177 Republicans voted against it.
The Senate version of the bill, S. 1, was introduced on January 6, 2009. It was sponsored by Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate Majority Leader, co-sponsored by 16 other Democratic senators and Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats. It has yet to be voted on by the Senate.
Bastiats philosophy defines one of the primary de facto functions of our modern US government, this concept of taking moneys from one group and giving it to others. There are any number of programs present in our form of government that participate in this exchange of wealth; subsidies, Medicare, Social Security, education, etc... Many of these programs are useful, in fact our society would possibly founder without some of them. But, it is still wealth transfer from one to another.
Could you or I demand someone else pay for our groceries or pay our rent? No. But our government routinely acts as the confiscatory agent in removing some of our wealth and providing it to others in the form of various welfare programs.
* Education investments ($141.6 billion):
- $79 billion in state fiscal relief to prevent cutbacks to key services, including $39 billion to local school districts and public colleges and universities distributed through existing state and federal formulas, $15 billion to states as bonus grants as a reward for meeting key performance measures, and $25 billion to states for other high priority needs such as public safety and other critical services, which may include education.
- $41 billion to local school districts through Title I ($13 billion), IDEA ($13 billion), a new School Modernization and Repair Program ($14 billion), and the Education Technology program ($1 billion)
- $15.6 billion to increase the Pell Grant by $500.
- $6 billion for higher education modernization.
* Health care investments ($112.1 billion):
- $87 billion for a temporary increase in the Medicaid matching rate for the states
- $20 billion for health information technology, including electronic medical records to prevent medical mistakes, provide better care to patients and introduce cost-saving efficiencies.
- $4.1 billion to provide for preventative care and to evaluate the most effective healthcare treatments.
* Welfare/unemployment ($102 billion): $43 billion for unemployment benefits and job training, $39 billion for health insurance and Medicaid, $20 billion for food stamps
* Infrastructure investments ($90 billion):
- $31 billion to modernize federal and other public infrastructure with investments that lead to long term energy cost savings;
- $30 billion for highway construction;
- $19 billion for clean water, flood control, and environmental restoration investments;
- $10 billion for transit and rail to reduce traffic congestion and gas consumption.
* Energy investments ($58 billion):
- $32 billion funding for an electric smart grid
- $20 billion for renewable energy tax cuts
- $6 billion for weatherizing modest-income homes.
The stimulus spending plan includes funding for such questionable items: National Endowment for the Arts ($50 million), LIHEAP ($1 billion), the 2010 Census ($1 billion), Americorps ($200 million), Amtrak ($800 million), repairs at the Smithsonian ($150 million), NASA climate change research ($400 million), and ACORN ($10 million).
The Democrats maintain that all of the spending will expire after two years and will not be assumed to continue long-term. However, these short-term increases will create enormous pressure to maintain these higher spending levels and thus avoid any “cuts.” For instance, according to the House Appropriations Committee, the package creates 32 new programs, totaling $137 billion. Congress’ track record for sun-setting programs is not impressive.
Once these programs are put in effect, they can rarely be done away with, even if the program has lived beyond its usefulness or failed to live up to expectations. Whether it be a corporation or an individual, these programs become entitlements. Then they become acquired rights, which are vigerously defended when threatened with dissolution.
Bastiat addressed that issue also, “The person who profits from this law will complain bitterly, defending his acquired rights.”
At some point in time, we as a nation will have to determine whether it is morally right to continue taking from the producers and rewarding the non or marginal producers. At some point in time, the non or marginal producers will outnumber the producers.
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