September 30, 2008 4:51PM 

# Subsidies Beget Subsidies 

By [Chris Edwards](https://www.cato.org/people/chris-edwards) 

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Sorry, this blog has nothing to do with the Wall Street mess, despite the title.

Instead, consider [this tiny story in the *WaPo*](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/29/AR2008092903109.html) that reveals the general inanity of our subsidized nation. The article, “Federal Grant to Provide Help To Low-Income Students” reports on a $1 million federal grant to the state of Virginia.

Will the grant money be used to buy books for poor kids, or to help pay their tuition? Nope. It will go to hire bureaucrats to train kids on how to grab more education subsidies: “The agency plans … to help educate students about college, with a sizable focus on how to obtain financial aid.”

For more about the follies of federal granting, see [Federal Aid to the States](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8246).

##### Related Tags 

[General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy), [Department of Education](https://www.cato.org/department-education), [Downsizing Government](https://www.cato.org/downsizing-government) 

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