Economic Stimulus and the Parent Principle
The $789 billion stimulus bill passed today. As expected, the Republican leadership carped about the cost. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell complained, "We've heard a lot from our friends about the danger of deficits over the past few years...Americans are wondering how we're going to pay for all this." In case this message was too abstract for average Americans, McConnell supported his point with a common sense analogy, "Any parent knows you don't buy a new car and plan the summer vacation before you set the family budget for the year."
The trouble with common sense analogies is that sometimes they're wrong. My father is a master of his family budget, but if we were to apply his maxims to the Federal budget, we'd quickly bury our ailing economy.
Monday 2/9. The MS Wall Fox Times, a joint news venture created by various prominent media organizations, has revealed that President Barack Obama is not Jesus. A probing collaboration by numerous reporters, pundits, and editorial assistants has determined that Barack Obama bears little physical resemblance to the celebrated hero of Christian faiths worldwide and cannot walk on water. The article also casts doubt on reports that he was born of immaculate conception, quoting numerous sources, including Obama's own autobiography, to show that his father was a man from Kenya.
