Our tax dollars at work

"Timber Program Becomes Vast Entitlement".

A federal program that began as a safety net for Pacific Northwest logging communities hard-hit by battles over the spotted owl in the 1990s has morphed into a sprawling entitlement — one that ships vast amounts of money to states with little or no historic connection to timber, an analysis by The Associated Press shows. . . .

A four-year renewal of the law, passed last year, authorizes an additional $1.6 billion for the program through 2011 and shifts substantial sums to states where the spotted owl never flew. While money initially was based on historic logging levels, now any state with federal forests — even those with no history of logging — is eligible for millions in Forest Service dollars.

Doling out all that taxpayer money is based less on logging losses than on the powerful reality of political clout. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is among the program's strongest backers.

Multiply this by 100 or by 1000, and you'll understand better the financial hole the federal government is in.

Comments

[kyle8]

So what else is new? It astounds me that there are still people in the world with economics degrees (Reich, Krugman) who think that industrial and agricultural planning are the way to go.

When we finally have a revolution I am going to personally shoot them all.

[TheBigHenry]

And the band played on.

BTW, kyle8, "shoot them all" is my line. But we can share.

[Mace]

Great article, thanks.