by publius
We’re all about bipartisan understanding here at ObWi – so I wanted to find a good thought-provoking critique from someone who feels the stimulus bill is full of waste. I needed a different perspective. So I checked out the Corner and K-Lo obliged. To illustrate the stimulus bill’s “wasteful spending,” K-Lo dutifully linked to this longer NRO article, which meticulously outlined 50 “of the most outrageous items in the stimulus package” (generally deemed outrages because they don’t stimulate). I decided to check this list out and report back to you, fair reader.
First outrageous item on the list – the bill provides $50 million for the National Endowment of the Arts, so that the “unemployed can fill their days attending abstract-film festivals and sitar concerts.” That’s really funny. And you know who else would find it really funny? The 5 million or so Americans who work in the arts industry (including in support roles as, say, janitors). The people laid off by the Los Angeles Opera last month would also find it especially hilarious. After all, if there’s any one product that should be left entirely to market whims, it’s art.
Moving on to the next “outrageous” item on our list… $380 million for the “Women, Infants, and Children” Program. Certainly sounds wasteful to me. When I first read this part, I remember thinking, “could they be talking about the ‘WIC’ program?” But I quickly dismissed the thought. The WIC program is about giving money to poor parents to buy food for kids. It’s like the posterchild for stimulus.
Well, as it turns out, the first letters of “W”oman, “I”nfants, and “C”hildren do in fact spell WIC. And that’s exactly the program they were talking about. Surely we can all agree that there is nothing more outrageous and non-stimulative than giving money to poor parents to buy food for children.
Next up — $300 million for “grants to combat violence against women.” Another outrage. And very non-stimulative – after all, new hiring by violence programs and transitional housing are not the kind of things that will pump money back into the economy. And besides, protecting violence against women isn’t a top priority now that we have Heller – they can just arm themselves. See how easy downward adjustments are?
Moving on — $2 billion for “child-care block grants.” Really? I mean, really?
Next up — $6 billion for university building projects. Yep, doesn’t get much less stimulative than that. This one seemed so absurd that I actually scrolled back up to see what they had written about it – “Perhaps spending $6 billion on university building projects will put some unemployed construction workers to work.” That’s no reason, though, to remove it from the List of 50 Outrages.