Stimulus Politics aka Creating a Welfare State

Paul Begala has elucidated the real motivations behind the stimulus bill better than I ever could: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/16/begala.carolina/index.html

He likens the stimulus package to steroids, and I think that's a great analogy. In sports, if you take steroids you gain an advantage over your opponent. So, without laws and regulations, all professional athletes would have to take steroids to compete.

Now, imagine that the Republicans are athletes who think that no athletes should take steroids, and that the Democrats are users and pushers. If you don't take steroids (receive bailout money) you and your fans (constituents) will be at an unfair advantage in a crooked game. Unless all players agree to not take steroids you're hurting yourself and your team by abstaining.

What I see as worse is the bribery implicit in the Democrat's stance. Implicit is that if you back the administration's policies, you should get money; if you don't back the policy you shouldn't get money. And the genius of the argument is that, absent my previous comments, it looks like the Republican principals have forced them into a lose lose situation.

Also note that if the Democrats subsidize everything, any individual who opposes the government will be easily destroyed by removing his/her government subsidy.