If the much talked about Cash for Clunkers program from the federal government has taught us anything it is that (1) the government imposes a lot of programmatic complexity for everything it undertakes and this should be a warning sign to those proposing the government take over healthcare insurance, and (2) of all the promise that the various stimulus packages have made, the one that actually put money in consumers hands is the one that worked.

On that second point, if direct financial incentives to consumers are effective, then why not simply cut taxes and put money in the hands of consumers? Of the trillions of dollars that has been promised into the system over the last 6 months the borrowing costs alone could fuel significant tax cuts.

Congress passed the President’s $800 billion spendulus plan in February and it has clearly not had the promised effect; all the while, unemployment has gotten far worse that the President himself promised would happen if his package wasn’t passed. Meanwhile, a program 1/800 the size of the Feb stimulus package actually stimulates economic activity, a fact that should be an embarrassment for this Congress and President, not a success story.


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