Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog

Tim Blair notes that art for arts sake has now been replaced by Show me the money:

As the Obama administration tackles the challenge of shoring up the economy through infusions of capital and job creation, cultural leaders are urging the president not to forget arts institutions, which are also reeling from the market downturn.

“We wanted to make sure arts were not left out of the recovery,” said Robert L. Lynch, president of Americans for the Arts, a national lobbying group. “The artist’s paycheck is every bit as important as the steelworker’s paycheck or the autoworker’s paycheck.”

Read the whole thing, nobody does a comedy fisking like Blair

DaTechGuy Jan 24th:

here is what I think the government should do outside of the normal functions of controlling the money supply and interest rates:

Do nothing.

That’s it, no stimulus, no bailouts, no directed loans. Let the business cycle work itself out.

The Politico Jan 28th:

In fact, government stimulus plans have a long history of failure. Remember last February’s $168 billion economic stimulus package? President Bush called it “a booster shot for our economy” and promised that it was large enough to have an effect. It wasn’t, and it didn’t work.

This time around, the Do-Nothing Crowd argues that the new spending — which dwarfs last year’s effort — is probably insufficient and definitely unwise. It is largely an economic argument. But there is also a cultural dimension. Many of the Do-Nothings argue that a painful recession is the best way to destroy America’s runaway culture of irresponsibility and debt. Economic turmoil, after all, has a way of grounding Americans.

Via Glenn who makes this statement of fact:

when it’s prudence vs. pork, prudence usually comes in a poor second.

I’d say when it prudence vs. almost anything it comes in a poor second.