Economic Vanity: The Yellow Brick Road, Part Two

When we last left our hero he was trying to demonstrate how facial cosmetics might possibly be applied to a pig with some positive effect. In the first episode, he suggested that handing taxpayer money back to taxpayers hoping they will go to a movie and order butter with their popcorn was an even worse idea than passing a stimulus bill at all.

Instead, since the stimulus package is a fait accompli, he suggested the money be handed to the pirates and brigands that are Corporate America with instructions to use it to supplement their own investment in an industry dedicated to economically extracting our natural resources in a responsible and environmentally friendly manner.

This will come with the warning… scratch that… the genuine and very legitimate threat of violent penance should they cheat or cut corners. He also knows he is dreaming about all of this, but so is DC so, so what?

But it takes more than mining, farming and chopping down trees.

Assuming the money keeps flowing out of Washington like water from Meribah, it should continue to help build processing plants that turn natural resources into primary products. These raw materials and parts will then be used to manufacture finished goods and machinery. Domestic and foreign consumption are certain to follow.

New jobs will be created in construction, first for the industrial complexes themselves followed by housing, retail and schools for the people they will employ and their families. Transportation, research and development and even jobs that can’t be described because they will be the result of innovative technologies not yet even created!

Pie in the sky predictions from some nutcase with his head in the clouds?

Maybe. But in their own way, this is precisely what the president and Congress are telling you right now about a stimulus bill, now passed, that for most Americans will result in a few bucks more in their paycheck (and will be lost later) that they will run out to the mall to buy an iPod with.

My suggestion, that is to say using taxpayer dollars to bring manufacturing back to this country, could work. What the President and his pals are doing though, will not work. I have no doubt they will claim it worked regardless of the outcome, but it won't work.

I’ve been reading the actual bill that was passed. Next time I’ll tell you some things your stimulus dollars are going to that are not making the news. (Example: Over $3 billion for rural sewer systems.)