$646,214 Per Government Job
House Democrats propose to spend $550 billion of their two-year, $825 billion "stimulus bill" (the rest of it being tax cuts). Most of the spending is unlikely to be timely or temporary. Strangely, most of it is targeted toward sectors of the economy where unemployment is the lowest.The December unemployment rate was only 2.3% for government workers and 3.8% in education and health. Unemployment rates in manufacturing and construction, by contrast, were 8.3% and 15.2% respectively. Yet 39% of the $550 billion in the bill would go to state and local governments. Another 17.3% would go to health and education -- sectors where relatively secure government jobs are also prevalent.
If the intent of the plan is to alleviate unemployment, why spend over half of the money on sectors where unemployment is lowest?
~Cato's Alan Reynolds' article "$646,214 Per Government Job"
12 Comments:
A real capitalist would have seen relative unemployment rates as market judgment on overcapacity. Of course, a real capitalist is out there making money, not sucking off the Cato teat, so I shouldn't be surprised.
You're argument is not valid. The money going to state and local governments will be used for infrastructure enhancement and repair. That money speaks directly to the high unemployment rate in the construction field. Meanwhile, manufacturing will benefit from higher demand for steel, heavy machinery and other construction-related needs.
Only ten per cent of the “stimulus” to be spent on 2009.
Close to half goes to entities that sponsor or employ or both members of the Service Employees International Union, federal, state, and municipal employee unions, or other Democrat-controlled unions.
There has been pork barrel politics since there has been politics. The scale of this pork is beyond what had ever been imagined before — and no one can be sure it will actually do much stimulation.
Just Pork
Here's another example where a shallow look at stats and rushing to judgment can be grossly misleading.
For example, much of the education money is to build badly-needed schools, i.e. bricks and mortar, which results not in jobs for educators but rather jobs for construction workers.
Of course, a real capitalist is out there making money, not sucking off the Cato teat, so I shouldn't be surprised.
I don't know much about the Cato institute, but I don't think I'm paying for it. At least he isn't sucking off the gub'mint teat - which I AM paying for.
"... much of the education money is to build badly-needed schools, i.e. bricks and mortar, which results not in jobs for educators but rather jobs for construction workers."
This actually represents a small portion of the education spending. And one has to ask why, after paying taxes at the state and local level, these schools are in such a state of disrepair. It seems the government that so many blindly put the faith in is incapable of executing the public trust.
The EU trade commissioner vowed to fight back after the bill passed in the House of Representatives late on Wednesday included a ban on most purchases of foreign steel and iron used in infrastructure projects.
The Senate's version of the legislation, which will be debated early next week, goes even further, requiring that any projects related to the stimulus use only American-made equipment and goods.
The inclusion of protectionist measures has quickly raised hackles in Europe.
Perfect timing for a "trade war"
Under "stimulus," Medicaid is now on offer not to just poor Americans, but Americans who have lost their jobs. And not just Americans who have lost their jobs, but their spouses and their children. And not Americans who recently lost their jobs, but those who lost jobs, say, early last year. And not just Americans who already lost their jobs, but those who will lose their jobs up to 2011. The federal government is graciously footing the whole bill. The legislation also forbids states to apply income tests in most cases.
House Democrat Henry Waxman was so thrilled by this blowout, it was left to Republicans to remind him that the very banking millionaires he dragged to the Hill last year for a grilling would now qualify for government aid.
Democrats quietly nationalizing health care
Hmmm, the usual suspects with their delusional socialist outlook:
"A real capitalist would have seen relative unemployment rates as market judgment on overcapacity"...
LOL! Run a business do you wcw?
matt says: "The money going to state and local governments will be used for infrastructure enhancement and repair"...
Hmmm, where did all those tax dollars paid to the state for that infrastructure go?
mika says: "For example, much of the education money is to build badly-needed schools, i.e. bricks and mortar"...
Why should I pay for someone else's school buildings? Why aren't the members of the community where those schools are located paying for those supposedly needed new buildings?
I'll put my trading record up against yours any day, dimbulb. For the record, I did run a business, my own little consultancy. Roughly a year ago I read the tea leaves and figured I would be best protected under a corporate umbrella, where I now reside.
Tell us more about your experience running your own business, mister arch-capitalist. Does it involve a civil-service job, perhaps? You talk like a disgruntled civil service type who's waiting for his pension to kick in is all I know.
west coast whiner whines some more: "I'll put my trading record up against yours any day, dimbulb"...
You already have...LOL!
"I did run a business, my own little consultancy"...
LOL! So did Tom Daschle...ROFLMAO!
Thanks for playing...
..or in English, how the hell did he guess I had a civil-service sinecure?
You're welcome, Mr. Mitty.
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