The ‘shovel-ready’ story is and always was a seductive one, for precisely the reason that it was a case where openly puerile fantasies (of peasant armies doing labor for you, but being paid with other peoples’ money) could masquerade as concern for the poor and unemployed. And it’s precisely because the story was so seductive that we are now seeing the hissy fit that results when these peoples’ pied piper admits it was all a craven crock of shit. The wonder is not why these people are now reacting the way they are; the wonder is that their arguments were ever taken seriously in the first place.That's just the summing up; the rest of the post is even better.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Quote of the Day - "Shovel Ready" edition
Sonic Charmer absolutely eviscerates the "Smart Set" and their dreams of "shovel ready" stimulus jobs. Evicerates:
What I want to know is why those projects weren't "shovel ready" when tax revenue was up? Where was that 2.2 trillion of needed infrastructure repair in the recent past. Oh right, it was out there working to buy votes.
ReplyDeleteI'm no historian, but it does seem like the "shovel ready" concept did have some basis in history. The Empire Sate Building was started and completed quickly. The Hoover Dam was started and completed 2 years ahead of schedule.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the difference now? Government back then was a tiny fraction of what it is now. Back then the government depended on the people instead of the other way around.
If only Obama of today could have the government of yesterday, he might have found some shovel ready projects. Maybe Nov 2nd will mark the first step on the return to yesterday.