Democrats are feeling stimulated these days. In a recent study, Jerry Brito and Veronique de Rugy of the Mercatus Center tracked stimulus spending in all 435 congressional districts plus the District of Columbia. They found that the amount of stimulus money received by a district was influenced by its partisan representation, rather than economic need. Districts with a Democratic congressman received almost twice as many dollars as those with Republican representation, whereas there was no relationship between a district’s unemployment level and the amount of stimulus money it received.
Barack Obama has broken many campaign promises since taking office, but when it comes to the comparisons to Franklin Delano Roosevelt saddled on him by his adorning followers in the media, he has worked hard to live up to the hype. We already knew that both dishonestly campaigned against the excessive spending of their predecessors before breaking the bank on their own watch. Now we also know that President Obama, like FDR, has abused a crisis atmosphere to direct economic relief funds for partisan purposes.
Patronage was instrumental in protecting the incumbent Democratic Party in the first mid-term election under FDR, despite an unemployment rate that surpassed 20 percent. His administration targeted swing districts for infusions of federal dollars – spending money not to increase employment, but to maximize electoral gains. He succeeded. Democrats expanded their majorities by nine seats in both chambers.
Given the proven benefits of directing federal dollars by political means, it is no surprise that the Obama administration appears to be doing the same. They are certainly familiar with FDR and his record, having touted the President as his intellectual heir during and after the campaign.
Fortunately, breakthroughs in media and communication have empowered individual citizens to new heights since the days of FDR. Local party bosses that used federal dollars to keep the Democratic Party in power for decades following the administration of FDR no longer exert the kind of influence they once did, so modern patronage efforts may not result in the same electoral benefits. Though the effect on the national debt – and our pocket books – is quite real.
The Mercatus study is just the latest in a long line of evidence warning against the central control of economies. When politicians are called on to make decisions, it is inevitable that they will make them using political criteria. Waste, fraud and abuse always follows. In other words, there really was no other outcome possible then the funneling of money to Democratic districts when a Democrat controlled Congress handed control of a giant slush fund to a Democrat President. If we don’t want the next batch of politicians to pull the same stunt, it’s imperative that they be of a mind to support individual liberty and not centralized control of the economy. The only dollar guaranteed not to be wasted by government is the one that never leaves your pocket.
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