Michelle Malkin » Question of the morning

Question of the morning

By Michelle Malkin • January 27, 2009 09:28 AM

From Conn Carroll at The Foundry: “What Is the Spending Multiplier on a Pack of Condoms?”

The entire intellectual underpinning of President Barack Obama’s spending plan rests on the belief that certain types of government spending creates a “multiplier effect” which raises national income beyond the size of government’s initial spending increase. So, for example, Mark Zandi has concocted a table which purports to show that for every one dollar the government spends building “Infrastructure” GDP will grow by $1.59. There is also an entry on Zandi’s table for “General Aid to State Government” which Zandi knows for an absolute fact has a 1.36 spending multiplier. So if Obama’s stimulus plan bails out California’s spendthrift government, and Sacramento then spends that money buying condoms for Nancy Pelosi’s constituents, Mark Zandi wants us to believe that this entire transaction will increase GDP by $1.36 for every $1 in condoms Sacramento buys. Does anybody really believe this?

Again, the family planning issue is just one example of how the left is using the cover of the stimulus to advance their long-term goals of increasing the size of the federal government. The stimulus plan increases Washington’s control over spending on education, spending on health care, spending on the environment, and even spending on local law enforcement. As the Washington Post editorialized this weekend: “All of those ideas may have merit, but why do they belong in an emergency measure aimed to kick-start the economy?”

They don’t.

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Posted in: fiscal stimulus

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#101

On January 27th, 2009 at 1:27 pm, b-cat said:

The government will likely want to spend more than it needs to

That I agree with. Only it should be government will spend more than it has.

If the government continues to spend after it is no longer justified, then it’s up to the voters to put better politicians in office.

It isn’t justified now, and sooner or later the Marxists in government will do away with elections.
#102

On January 27th, 2009 at 1:35 pm, RabbidSquirrel said:

Socky:
Do you believe that poster might merely/actually be lgm, our buffoon relief-supplier, with a new, secret identity?

I do not have another identity… and I resent that you might even remotely think that.
#103

On January 27th, 2009 at 1:36 pm, RabbidSquirrel said:

oh shoot, i forgot to log out first
#104

On January 27th, 2009 at 2:49 pm, bluesoc said:

For exactly which candidate do you think those voters will cast a ballot? The one who tells them, “Things are tough, suck it up!” or, “You poor thing, have some government $$$”???

If that logic held, fiscal conservatives would never be elected to office, except in times of prosperity. I’m not sure if the historical record indicates that (I doubt that it does).

sooner or later the Marxists in government will do away with elections.

that’s a bit extreme, don’t you think?
#105

On January 27th, 2009 at 3:02 pm, sonofdy said:

that’s a bit extreme, don’t you think?

Given obamas past, no.
#106

On January 27th, 2009 at 3:06 pm, bluesoc said:

Given obamas past, no.

I’m willing to bet my entire income, for the remainder of my life, that Obama will not do away with elections. Any takers?
#107

On January 27th, 2009 at 3:30 pm, sonofdy said:

I’m willing to bet my entire income, for the remainder of my life, that Obama will not do away with elections. Any takers?

You might be glad nobody took you up on that some day.
#108

On January 27th, 2009 at 4:09 pm, vsatt said:

If Obama ever does away with elections it would only be after he had long done away with the idea of private earned income. Bluesoc would have nothing to lose at that point.