Give Me All your Money

"I'll take the credit card... no please and thank you necessary." US House & Senate from the last 75 years.

Refer to the Congressional budget office from the last post link. These poor slobs have to figure out a way to make things work when the people to whom you have given your credit cards don't really know how they're going to make anything work. All they know is that they have money to spend. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to win an election. If you don't believe me look at elected officials in any large US city. Most US large cities are third-world cities where the few productive people keep the lights on and the water running for everyone else. The neat thing for the politicians is that even if they spend you into oblivion, they have no responsibility whatsoever. They still get their pensions, Cadillac Healthcare, and book deals where they can add a few million bucks to their pocketbooks.

So, back to the original idea. Money is borrowed for a government-forced program. Ultimately, this investment is silly for investors to consider simply to create short-term jobs that the marketplace cannot support.  Few want to go and live there for fear of their lives and properties. Certainly, very few businesses want to invest there. Otherwise, it would be happening and it would be a business pleasure to be there!

If Frank wanted to give an incentive that made even more sense he would simply cut the taxes on any businesses to lower their costs so they could employ more people. Why collect taxes, peel off a bunch of money to pay for the massive bureaucracy, and give whatever is leftover back to the people who paid them originally? It is a circular nightmare. What if the businesses did not employ more people with their tax incentives? That would be a telling story then wouldn't it. There would not be a market for what is being offered. Increasing it would be silly. So what is a government supposed to do about that? 

The money the government was offering in Frank's project was taken from you. This is the way every government program works. Somebody has some idea they think a few people will vote for and it is always paid for with someone else's money. We would be better off figuring out ways to make it pleasurable for investors to invest in Washington DC with safety, orderly business, and productive people. Unfortunately, the US government cannot make this happen. They cannot alter character. Character, motivation, intelligence, and persistence create productivity, orderly societies, and profit for all concerned.   Profit motivates people. People of all types want it. So Frank really blew it by making just another program to put all into more debt and not really change the character of anybody. The program will fail long-term and the money STILL needs to be repaid.