On the Day Before Tax Day, Some Bad News and Some Good

As you prepare to file your income tax return tomorrow (if you have not already done so) and perhaps to make a check out to the U.S. government, consider for a moment what some of your money goes to pay for.

USA Today reports that "Two United Nations agencies spent millions in U.S. money on substandard Afghanistan construction projects, including a central bank without electricity and a bridge at risk of 'life threatening' collapse, according to an investigation by U.S. federal agents." Apparently, with the aid of a grant from Uncle Sam, the UN ran a "quick impact" program designed to upgrade infrastructure in Afghanistan and other "developing nations." This program "was designed to demonstrate results and promote confidence in the reconstruction effort, but the report suggests it did the opposite." As one contractor said, "the program was 'ill conceived from the beginning. This was a political idea to do quick impact projects that would look good.'"

Sound familiar? This is Keynesianism on an international scale. Make work projects, however ill-conceived, wasteful, and criminally incompetent, will somehow make us all richer. Remember the levies in New Orleans? I'm pretty sure they were built as part of a "quick impact" program run by ward healers in the famously corrupt city. When I think of the government running the health care industry or car companies or the banks, I think of examples like this, or the DMV, or the VA Hospitals, or countless others, and I wonder: do those who support this really, truly believe that this time it will be different?

Of course, there are no satisfactory answers to questions like this other than to recognize that, at this point in history, those who support gigantic government really don't care one way or another whether it will succeed. Half of them think it is right to give government control of everything; the other half are happy to oblige them and take control. All of them studiously avoid examining the nature of their actions or the consequences.

So I am happy to report some good news on the government front, namely that it still employs a few competent, highly trained individuals who excel at their jobs. Today's Washington Post reports on the demise of the three Somali "pirates" at the hands of three Navy snipers. While the lifeboat they were in bobbed in heavy seas during the night, and the kidnappers became more and more antsy and unglued, the Navy commander concluded that Captain Richard Phillips, their hostage, was in imminent danger and gave the order to remove him from harm's way. Three shots rang out, three pirates were dead, and Captain Phillips was safe.

If you have ever done any shooting, you will know how difficult it is to hit a target that is standing still during broad daylight. Even taking the time to get comfortable, wait until your heart rate has slowed and your breathing is under control, settle the cross hairs on the target, and gently squeeze the trigger, placing a bullet on a particular point even a relatively short distance away is damnably difficult. Now try it at night from one ship on rough seas when the targets are on a small craft bobbing on the waves a hundred feet away, and you can imagine what these snipers achieved. As one senior military official succinctly put it, "Three pirates, three rounds, three dead bodies." Nicely stated.

Bravo, gentlemen. If I could divert some of my tax dollars to you, I would gladly do it. You make us proud.