The Wall Street Journal on the Latest 'Stimulus'

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2010/05/the-wall-street-journal-on-the-latest-stimulus

Today's Wall Street Journal has a humdinger of an editorial about the latest legislation moving through Congress, which would extend unemployment benefits, among other things:

The sages in Congress continue to claim that these payments for not working will lead to more work. Representative Jim McDermott recently declared on the House floor that jobless payments are "one of the most effective forms of economic stimulus" because "every unemployment dollar spent returns $1.64 of economic benefits." So let's lay off everybody, pay them for not working, and watch the economy really boom. Where do they teach this stuff?

This bill is also one of the most expensive corporate welfare giveaways in recent years with subsidies for municipal bond traders, cotton farmers, yarn producers, sheep growers, Hawaiian sugar cane cooperatives, motor sports businesses, renewable energy firms, the steel lobby, and so on. Any industry that doesn't get a tax credit or other handout in this bill should fire its lobbyist.

by Editor  |  May 25, 2010 at 9:24 am Related Topics:  Energy, Press, Taxes receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list