Weak Effort to Rah-Rah the Stimulus in the Kansas City Star

This column is a few days old, but it is still poor enough to warrant criticism. The Star‘s Steve Penn writes up all the wondrous things that the stimulus package will provide for job seekers in Kansas City. It really is startling how someone can so brazenly promote a political initiative in the newspaper without even remotely considering the other side of the argument.

As he goes through a laundry list of jobs, training, and scholarships that the funding will provide, he does not even consider that the taxes that would need to be raised in order to pay for these programs will make it harder for people to find good jobs in the future. It is like the issues of taxes and debt don’t even matter. The article reads as though money grows on trees, to put it mildly. This really is not surprising, however. Far too few people have any comprehension or concern about the debt being created by this administration and the last.

One part of the article would be hysterical if it weren’t so terrifying (emphasis added): 

 As a result of the new infusion of dollars, the council is prepared to provide 1,500 youths this summer with what are called next-generation jobs. That program will provide participants 16 to 24 with internships with the government and nonprofit sectors.

So, the next generation of jobs to grow our economy will be with the government. That ought to cure all of our financial ills. …