the Awesome Highlighter

Here, the Constitution is an afterthought; the supreme law of the land is the principle of concentrated benefits and dispersed costs.   remove

largest expansion of the welfare state   remove

partially nationalizing the banking system, putting Detroit on the dole and looking around to see whether some bit of what is smilingly called “the private sector” has been inadvertently left off the ever-expanding list of entities eligible for a bailout from the $1 trillion or so that is to be “spread around.”   remove

The distribution of a trillion dollars by a political institution —- the federal government —- will be nonpolitical? How could it be? Either markets allocate resources, or government —- meaning politics —- allocates them. Now that distrust of markets is high, Americans are supposed to believe that the institution they trust least —- Congress —- will pony up $1 trillion and then passively recede, never putting its 10 thumbs, like a manic Jack Horner, into the pie? Surely Congress will direct the executive branch to show compassion for this, that and the other industry. And it will mandate “socially responsible” spending —- an infinitely elastic term —- by the favored companies.   remove

“Please, sir, I want some more.”   remove

economically destructive and morally dubious   remove

once did   remove

the wealth being spread belongs to those who created it, not government   remove

It includes almost everything, including the refundable tax credit on which McCain’s health care plan depended   remove

careless language bewitches the speaker’s intelligence   remove

In America, socialism is un-American. Instead, Americans merely do rent-seeking —- bending government for the benefit of private factions. The difference is in degree, including the degree of candor. The rehabilitation of conservatism cannot begin until conservatives are candid about their complicity in what government has become.   remove

making matters worse   remove