Government Stimulus Package?

After reading an article this morning, I wish I could say I was surprised at reading that much of the "federal stimulus" money is to be distributed, not to the people, but to government. Federal funding is to be used to pay for a great variety of projects such as repaving streets, repairing seismic, volcano, and stream gages, changing light fixtures, and planting trees. Cities and states all around the country are compiling lists of projects and programs to be resuscitated and implemented with federal funds. The federal government can't seem to give money away fast enough. $199 million for a border checkpoint in Nevada, $15 million for another checkpoint in North Dakota (none for Laredo. Politics?). The government seems unable to give the money away fast enough. In its rush to distribute money, the government even sent checks to 200 prison inmates in Texas.

From what I have read, under the stimulus package nearly one trillion dollars is going to be spent, and most of it by the federal government. While some of it is being spent by non-government agencies, most is not. We are simply witnessing the phenomenon of government giving money to itself while telling us that they are spending it for our benefit. My impression is that what the Obama administration is most interested in stimulating is the federal government. It is not called a federal stimulus package for nothing. The objective seems to be to invigorate government as a catalyst for economic activity and further entrench it in the economic, political, and social life of the nation. As they say, to a man with a hammer, every problem is a nail; and Obama has a hammer.

Federal money is like heroin; once you become addicted to it you cannot imagine living without it. And the federal government is determined to keep us hooked. One result of the Obama administration pushing money on state and local governments is that it will increase their dependence on federal government. This is a sound strategy if what you're selling is federal government.