Politicians say, "We're all equal," and pretend that they represent everyone. But, in fact, they constantly pick winners and losers. America, as The Wall Street Journal's Kim Strassel points out, is now like the place described in George Orwell's book "Animal Farm": "All animals are equal," but some are "more equal than others." "Animal Farm" was about Communism, but today the allegory applies to our bloated democracy, too.
During the "fiscal cliff" negotiations that Congress and the media made sound so tough -- as if every last penny were pinched -- Congress still managed to slip in plenty of special deals for cronies.
--NASCAR got $70 million for new racetracks.--Algae growers got $60 million.--Hollywood film producers got a $430 million tax break.
I say it's one more reason to keep government small.
Politicians doling out favors quietly shift where society's resources flow, who gets employed, what ideas are pursued.
It distorts the economy and the culture -- and it turns us into a nation of favor-seekers instead of creators and producers.
What about all the new businesses that would have gotten investment money but didn't have Gore on their boards? What new ideas might have thrived if old industries weren't coddled? We don't know. We will never know the greatness of what might have existed had the state not sucked the oxygen out of the incubator.
Because of government's favor-granting, Washington, D.C., is now the place where the well-connected go to get rich. For the first time in history, six of the richest counties in the U.S. surround D.C. When a small group of people gets to dispense $3.6 trillion and set rules that can help or kill your idea, you want to suck up to them.
As long as government has the power to grant favors, cronies and their lobbyists will seek those favors out.
The privileged win. The people lose.
Read more: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/02/12/the_privileged_people_121548.html#ixzz2tDTOMBYg
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