The Biggest Check Ever Signed

The Obama Administration has banked a lot of political capital on the economic "stimulus" package to be signed into law today—and no doubt will try to give the measure credit when the U.S. economy eventually recovers on its own.  In reality, the stimulus bill is a hugely expensive Trojan horse, and within it hides an army of programs that are the enemies of both financial sanity and a free society. 

Among them:

• A dramatic rollback of the landmark improvements to welfare enacted in 1996—one of the most popular and measurably effective pieces of legislation ever;
  
• A back-door measure to consolidate more power over individual health care decisions under federal government control;
  
• The misguided and incendiary "Buy American" provision —a veritable repeat of the disastrous protectionist policies of the 30's, and sure tinder for a trade firestorm with our European and Asian trading partners;
  
• Billions upon billions for special interest spending that very much represents the "business as usual" that President Obama so vigorously campaigned against.  (The nation's most respected newspapers are openly sneering at the suggestion that the package is free of "earmarks" for favored congressional leaders.)  

The economic stimulus bill is merely a nearsighted return to government spending policies which have been discredited over and over again. 

For more on the package, visit Cato's Fiscal Reality page.