There is a brand new sign along my route to work. The shiny green sign with white letters says something about the “American Reinvestment….,”. I won’t be able to read anymore of the sign without stopping. Those of you that have driven through Atlanta’s rush hour traffic understand why I write stopping on a very busy road is out of the question. Besides, I saw all need; this sign foretells the coming of major road work paid for by the Economic Stimulus plan.
The debate over the stimulus plan is history. My side lost and so the money is flowing. The only thing left is to push to make sure the money is used well.
The sign reminded me that back in May I wrote that we should Rename Pork Spending and Earmarks: Buy My Reelection. When reelection time comes around, members of Congress like to go back to their constituents and talk about all the booty (yes, pirate talk meaning valuable stuff taken from others) they have brought back to their districts from Washington. This plunder of the Federal budget has become so common that it’s now part of the unofficial Congressional job description.
The above mentioned sign advertising the American Economic Recovery Act has been posted. The work on the sign is done. The sign is producing absolutely no economic value, unless you consider publicity for the politicians that created the stimulus plan to be a value. I understand that the people that made that the sign and posted it earned money. But that sign is done producing value, until someone has to dig it up and dispose of it. Compare that to the road work marked by the sign; at least that will continue producing value for generations after the construction is finished.
Note that this road sign does not aide traffic flow in any way. In fact, if you are driving you can barely read it.
To get the tax revenue for the stimulus the government had to take that money from taxpayers. There are a lot of road projects and therefore a lot of signs paid for with stimulus money, which means our tax dollars. Those signs have only one purpose and that purpose is to subtly advertise for your incumbents in Congress. One more effort by a politician near you whose real goal is, Buy My Reelection.
Economic stimulus – your tax dollars at work for you!
