Quick, Mail the Fire Department!

There is a lot wrong with the Obama "Stimulus" Package, mostly because it is simply a transfer of funds from one group to another. And, not much of anything else. But even based on the Keynesian principles upon which the package was designed, it is a bit short in the logic department. Thomas Sowell explains the problem from this angle, based on the CBO's analysis showing only $26bn of Obama's $355bn public works package will be spent this year:

Using long, drawn-out processes to put money into circulation to meet an emergency is like mailing a letter to the fire department to tell them that your house is on fire.

There is a lot of smoke and mirrors to this program, which is not necessarily a bad thing, since it is a bad program, smoke and mirrors, rather than creating actual distortions in the economy is a good thing.