3 Fallacies in Obama’s Public-Sector Stimulus Strategy

reason.com,   June 19, 2012    

 Poor President Obama. Life under the White House klieg lights must seem soooo unfair. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has been saying since last year that although “private-sector jobs have been doing just fine,†public-sector jobs need help with another $35 billion in stimulus spending, without raising an eyebrow. But the president regurgitates the same line and all hell breaks loose: The blogosphere chortles mercilessly; Twitter chatter roundly lampoons him; and Mitt “I Like Being Able to Fire People†Romney accuses him of being out of touch with ordinary Americans.

Truth is, though, that Obama was asking for it. His statement might be conventional wisdom in his party’s circles. But it nonetheless manages to pack in virtually every “progressive†economic fallacy—and then some.