John Stossel talks about jobs and eminent domain

john-stossel Some interesting articles by John Stossel:

Real Jobs Create Wealth

So, President Obama got his stimulus bill. For a mere $787 billion, he has pledged to “save or create” 3.5 million jobs. That’s only $224,857 and change per job! (If I still have my job next year, will he take credit for saving it?)

But wait. Only 3.5 million jobs? Why so few? It’s not like creating jobs is difficult.

Egypt built more than 100 pyramids beginning sometime in the third millennium B.C. to house the corpses of the pharaohs and their significant others. Think of all the jobs that project created. I’ll bet the unemployment rate was something any pharaoh could have proudly campaigned for re-election on — if he faced election, that is. Pyramid-building is one heck of a public works project.

Its economic significance was not lost on that great advocate of full employment through public works, John Maynard Keynes. The British economist, so in vogue today, famously wrote in “The General Theory” (1936), “Pyramid-building, earthquakes, even wars, may serve to increase wealth.” Read the full story.

Obama the Spender Goes to Washington

How lucky we are to have Barack Obama as president. He’s already come up with a revolutionary idea that escaped his predecessors: He’s going to scour the budget for … “waste and inefficiency” “… go line by line through the federal budget in order to eliminate wasteful and ineffective programs.”

It’s astonishing that no one has thought of this before. Who knew programs could actually be eliminated just because they don’t work and waste taxpayers’ money?

And he’s making progress.

“[W]e have already identified $2 trillion in savings over the next decade.”

How will he do it? Here’s an example: “Agriculture Secretary [Tom] Vilsack is saving nearly $20 million with reforms to modernize programs and streamline bureaucracy.”

Amazing! “Modernize and streamline.” It is indeed a new day. Read the full story.

Eminent Domain Run Amok

Susette Kelo, now 52 years old, had hoped to stay in her little pink house forever. She bought her New London, Conn., home in 1997 and fell in love with the neighborhood.

Then she learned that the government can just take your property, if doing so will improve the common good of the community. City officials said Kelo would be “fairly compensated” but said she didn’t have a choice about whether or not she would sell. Some people would call this stealing, but it’s not. It’s called “eminent domain,” a legal term that means “supreme lordship.”

Traditionally, governments use eminent domain to clear space for highways or railroads. In New London, town officials wanted the space for private developers. Chris Riley, who in 2001 represented the New London Development Corp., said that construction would bring in more than 5,000 jobs and $12.5 million in new local taxes. The city hired lawyer Wesley Horton to defend the redevelopment plan. Read the full story.

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