Equally troubling is the administration’s view that taxpayer dollars belong to them. The money sent to Washington D.C. does not belong to the president, Congress or any government constituency. The money sent to Washington D.C. belongs to the taxpayers. As for the taxpayers of Arizona, the Tax Foundation estimates that, on average, every man, woman and child in Arizona sent nearly $6,100 to the federal government in tax payments in 2005.
This same principle holds for stimulus money. Stimulus money is not magically created in Washington D.C. All government funds must first be taxed or borrowed from citizens across the country before it can be spent. Therefore, when the Obama Administration threatens Arizonans that the administration can take back stimulus dollars if they agree with Senator Kyl, what the administration is really saying is that unless your actions (or the actions of your duly elected representatives) meet our approval, we will not send back the appropriate share of the money that we have already taken from you in the first place.
Acknowledging that all government dollars are actually taxpayer dollars, the correct inquiry (threat?) from the administration to Arizona should have been: If Arizona believes that the stimulus bill is not stimulating the economy we can change the current deal. This new deal would exclude the citizens of Arizona from receiving any federal money from the stimulus package. In return, the citizens of Arizona would no longer bear any of the responsibility to pay for the stimulus program – whether those costs are borne through the higher taxes or higher deficits that by definition must accompany this massive increase in government spending.
While still an uncalled-for threat by the administration, at least such a threat would have acknowledged that ultimately it is the citizens of the United States that pay the government’s bills.
It would also help our recovery if the administration acknowledged that it is the citizens of the United States that create our economic welfare and growth, not the politicians and bureaucrats in Washington D.C. The U.S. economy will not return to health under duress. The Chicago Way might be effective at catching Al Capone. It is counterproductive when it comes to creating a vibrant fast growing economy.