Boondoggle

boon·dog·gle \ˈbün-ˌdä-gəl\ n. a wasteful or impractical project or activity often involving graft.

Take a look at www.recovery.gov[fn1] and see just how effective your federal government is at spending your money to create jobs. $150 million dollars later and how many jobs have been created or saved[fn2] in Michigan, the state with the highest unemployment rate? A whopping 397. $21.6 million dollars later, how many jobs have been created or saved in Illinois? 288. $219.5 million dollars have been spent in South Carolina, how many jobs created or saved? 146. $787 Billion Dollar stimulus. And for what? The highest unemployment in 26 years. Nothing has been stimulated by government spending, except for the federal bureaucracy and its power and control over our lives. It would be laughable if it weren't so extremely sad to think that this money has been confiscated from hard working Americans (and their children and grandchildren). The reckless spending by the Obama administration (and Bush and the rest) is not only ineffective, it is immoral. To pass onto future generations Washington's irresponsibility and the costs for Obama's Marxist agenda is sinful.

Consider this. How many jobs has Obama's so-called stimulus bill created (or saved)? Recovery.gov claims roughly 30,000 (Obama promised 3.5 million). How many jobs will Walmart create in 2009? 22,000. Cost to the American taxpayer. Zero. By creating new stores, Walmart creates jobs, pays wages and benefits, pays real estate taxes, collects massive amounts of sales taxes, and saves consumers thousands of dollars each year. Keep in mind, many of Obama's 'jobs' are either temporary construction jobs (that would have eventually been funded anyway) or are government jobs that will continue to cost taxpayers money while adding to our bloated bureaucracy in perpetuity. Yes, I know it's trendy to bash Walmart... That it doesn't pay this or that its presence destroys that. But why don't these critics ever take on government? How much harm does government do? What are the effects of its policies?

Government does not create. It destroys. It destroys the incentive to work. It destroys wealth and opportunity. It destroys markets and thus consumer choices. It destroys freedom and liberty. It destroys individual responsibility. Said Reagan, "Government is not the answer to our problem. Government is the problem." It is no friend, it is no partner. While government is necessary, its scope should be very much limited -- thus we have a Constitution. It was intended to prevent government overreaching into our lives -- now Washington uses it to limit our freedom. Sigh.

The free markets, on the other hand, create jobs, reward inventiveness and risk taking, spur creativity and entrepreneurialism. The markets create wealth. expand opportunity and are the proven engine for lifting the poor out of poverty. Are there imperfections in the market? Of course. But it is easier to regulate overreaching and graft in private sector than it is to root it out once it becomes entrenched in the public sector. It is difficult to calculate how much misery distant politicians inflict on the lives of ordinary Americans.

Obama's socialism enslaves. Impoverishes. And weakens us. Spreading apathy and malaise. His policies go against human nature, individual liberty and responsibility, by mandating that we work for another and for the glorification of his massive ego. Government doesn't inspire hard work or inventiveness or efficiency. And let us get this straight once and for all. Government. Does. Not. Care. It does not look out for you. It only looks out for itself. To the extent you find government officials looking out for you, I will bet they are in the military or are local officials, not distant federal bureaucrats.


[fn1] Hope you enjoy recovery.gov, it cost 18 million dollars.

[fn2] A compete fiction which allows Obama to artificially inflate the 'effectiveness' of his ineffective and wasteful programs.

Update (10/22): 7 months after the so-called stimulus and 49 of the 50 states have lost jobs. America Now Over 6 Million Jobs Shy of Administration's Projections.