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Jeff Merkley thinks any government program that employs someone is worth doing

This from Jeff Merkley in the Huffington Post today:

Whether it's logging to reduce wildfire hazards, teaching children, laying new light rail tracks, or preventing floods along the Mississippi, people will be paid to do these jobs - that's not wasteful spending, that's the whole point.

Sooooo...let me get this straight. If it's a government program and it employs someone, it "creates jobs". This has got to be the most expensive economic philosophy in existence.

The point of a stimulus plan, obviously, is to stimulate the economy (in other words, business) such that businesses flourish and there are lots of new jobs. Although some programs involving employing more government employees might be laudable, and in theory some of these programs might be stimulative to the economy, it''s clear that the job provided by a salary paid for directly from the stimulus is hardly a job "created".

My bottom line on the stimulus plan:
I think Democrats should take a much closer look at this spending bill...because even if they get a few Republicans to vote for it, it clearly is their bill. As Ross Douthat points out, plenty of Democrats voted for the Iraq war, but it still became a millstone around the neck of virtually every Republican. If this bill doesn't work (get the economy moving again), Democrats will be very, very damaged. So if I were them, I'd make sure they listen to the blue dogs.

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