August 26, 2011 2:53PM

This Week in Government Failure

By Tad DeHaven

Over at Downsizing the Federal Government, we focused on the following issues this past week:

Small Business Administration supporters have cultivated a myth that being against the agency is equivalent to being against small businesses. In reality, the great majority of American small businesses have thrived without government subsidies.
Chris Edwards looks at the spending record of Texas governor Rick Perry.
Too often local reporters treat the receipt of federal funds as a free lunch to be celebrated. However, like all federal subsidies, HUD’s Community Development Block Grant program does not create economic activity — it merely redirects it according to political and bureaucratic whims.
A budget plan promises to cut federal spending by 25 percent per year and has been endorsed by seven Republicans running for president. Too bad it’s the dumbest budget “plan” yet.
Pundits like Rachel Maddow never seem to worry about the quality of government “investments.” And they seem blissfully unaware of the history of damage caused by governments that have thought big on infrastructure.

Follow Downsizing the Federal Government on Twitter (@DownsizeTheFeds) and connect with us on Facebook.