Well, well…I didn’t realize until this morning that my federal tax dollars were going to help with such Katrina / Rita related emergency needs as repairs to the New Orleans SuperDome — to the tune of $115 million in FEMA grants to those po’ ol’ NFL owners. Bastards! M-F’ers! Alexis de Tocqueville was right. (For those who aren’t aware, he came over here from France in the 1830’s and noted about our young republic — not democracy — that whenever 50 percent of the people figure-out that they could dip their hand into the public cookie-jar, that they’d do so and tax the other 50 percent to pay for their pleasures.) Bastards. No, I take that back — they’re not bastards — we know who their father is.
Milton Friedman wrote in Free To Choose that there are four people / money combinations. The first is me spending my money on me. I want the best I can get and / or the most happiness for whatever I can afford — which may not be the cheapest I can find. Second is when I spend my money on You, I hope you’ll be happy with what I get you — I want you to be happy — but the strength of my desire for your happiness, and the amount of time and / or money that I commit to your happiness depends upon the closeness of our relationship — I will endeavor with much more vigor to make my wife happy than I will to make a so-so co-worker happy. Third, is me spending John Doe’s money on me — no expense is too much to insure my happiness. No Sir-ee, Bob! And finally, the fourth combination is when John Doe spends Mary Jane’s money on Fred Farly — hell — John doesn’t care how much he grabs from Mary to spend on Fred or whether or not Fred’s happy with what he got or that it served its intended purpose — especially when it’s for Fred’s welfare.
Do you see that people / money combinations one and two describe private enterprise, be it the family spending on itself or in charity to another, or a business trying to make a buck. Combimations three and four describe government, where we take from an unrelated, unknown someone and spend their money on either ourselves or another unrelated, unknown someone.
That French guy was right. I want my 50 cents-worth of that bill back. I never authorized them to spend my tax money like that. I’ll argue with you in good faith that not a dime of federal money should’ve gone to any of the victims of Katrina or Rita (my house here near Houston sustained some damage from Rita — I paid out of my own pocket to fix it) — but, pissing it away on a F’ing stadium is way beyond the pale — and beyond my arguing with you. I have but one word for you if you were for, or think upon finding out about it, that it’s a good way to spend public money — my money — go to hell — and meet your father.
