Toll Road

"I'm sorry, Mr President. I don't dance."
--Jack Ryan (Clear and Present Danger)

President-elect Obama outlined his economic stimulus plan in a speech at George Mason University last Thursday. The venue strikes me as ironic since George Mason was a staunch Anti Federalist who refused to sign the Constitution out of concern that it granted too much power to central government.

Current estimates size the plan at about three quarters of a trillion dollars but rest assured this won't cap the cost.

You can reflect on the words separately, but I did want to highlight a couple of passages here [emphasis mine].

"There is no doubt that the cost of this plan will be considerable. It will certainly add to the budget deficit in the short term. But equally certain are the consequences of doing too little or nothing at all, for that will lead to an even greater deficit of jobs, incomes, and confidence in our economy. It is true that we cannot depend on government alone to create jobs or long-term growth, but at this particular moment, only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe. Only government can break the vicious cycles that are crippling our economy - where a lack of spending leads to lost jobs which leads to even less spending; where an inability to lend and borrow stops growth and leads to even less credit."

The notion that we can borrow and spend our way out of a borrowing and spending problem is, of course, folly. The only-government-can-get-us-out-of-it claim elevates the imprudence.

Perhaps the most noteworthy passage is near the end [again, emphasis mine]:

"That is why the time has come to build a 21st century economy in which hard work and responsibility are once again rewarded. That’s why I’m asking Congress to work with me and my team day and night, on weekends if necessary, to get the plan passed in the next few weeks. That’s why I’m calling on all Americans - Democrats and Republicans - to put good ideas ahead of the old ideological battles; a sense of common purpose above the same narrow partisanship; and insist that the first question each of us asks isn’t 'What’s good for me?' but 'What’s good for the country my children will inherit?'"

If we truly had our kids' best interest in mind, then we would not be borrowing from their future by levering up the risk today.

By following the path of government intervention under the belief that it will lead us to the solution of our problems, we can be confident of this: Our children will surely pay the toll for our misdirection.