Your Government at Work

Rob wrote in a recent comment he wishes to learn more about Public Choice Theory. I don't think I'll be able to provide a better example of PCT at work than this:

Via Cafe Hayek, ABCNews reports:

On page 432 of the Reid bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for “certain states recovering from a major disaster.”

The section spends two pages defining which “states” would qualify, saying, among other things, that it would be states that “during the preceding 7 fiscal years” have been declared a “major disaster area.”

I am told the section applies to exactly one state: Louisiana, the home of moderate Democrat Mary Landrieu, who has been playing hard to get on the health care bill.

In other words, the bill spends two pages describing would could be written with a single word: Louisiana. (This may also help explain why the bill is long.)

Senator Harry Reid, who drafted the bill, cannot pass it without the support of Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu.

How much does it cost? According to the Congressional Budget Office: $100 million.

(Emphasis mine)

In the real world, we would call something like this a bribe. But I guess because Reid is doing it with other people's money, as opposed to his own, it doesn't fit the precise definition of "bribe." Just business as usual in Washington, D.C.

And this racket is what Matt Yglesias thinks will improve health care.

Despicable.

(Kudos to ABCNews for bringing this to light. No doubt there are many other "provisions" like this that need to be identified and brought into public view)