Cal Thomas, commenting on the $73 billion dollars that the U.S. Conference of Mayors is begging be handed them from the federal government, describes how the both the U.S. Constitution and economic reality have been thrown into the trashbin of history. In their place, we've created the myth of a Santa Claus government, a wildly expensive myth that poses serious dangers to our future.Last Monday, the U.S. Conference of Mayors sent its list of wishes to the political equivalent of Santa Claus: Congress. The mayors apparently figure with all the talk from President-elect Obama about infrastructure repair and job creation, they might as well try to pile onto Santa's lap, too.
The mayors claim the economy will be stimulated if their wishes are granted. What do they want? The National Taxpayers Union (NTU) has analyzed the 72-page list. Here are some of the lowlights.
-- $1.102 billion in projects involving sidewalks;
-- $1 million for annual sewer rehabilitation in Casper, Wyo...;
-- $6.1 million for corporate hangars, parking lots, and a business apron at the Fayetteville, Ark., airport.
-- 15 projects with the term "stadium" in them, including a $150 million Metromover extension to the Florida Marlins' baseball stadium; and
-- 81 projects mentioning "landscaping" and/or beautification efforts.
Kristina Rasmussen, NTU's director of government affairs, offers more analysis of the mayors' report on NTU's blog: "Total cost of the wish list is $73,163,299,303. They claim this will create an estimated 847,641 jobs in 2009 and 2010. Divide that out, and you get a cost to taxpayers of $86,314 per job. Not exactly a great deal."...
Democrats, especially, used to talk about "mortgaging our future" by irresponsible spending. Now the Congress is behaving like a bank gone wild, handing out money to almost anyone that asks for it with few strings and no sense attached.
The so-called "jobs" the mayors claim will be created will only last for a brief time. Then what? Those who take them are likely to be back where they were when the projects are finished: out of work and waiting for the next government rescue...
