The Gravy Train Leading Devalued Degrees to Government ‘Work’

• The government lockdowns as an “opportunity (for) transformational change.”
• Turning failed government education policy into government jobs.
• A preview of what’s in store for bond debt-funding.

Back in 2008, with the country in the throes of a mortgage meltdown and onset of the Great Recession, incoming White House Chief of staff Rahm Emanuel pounced: “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”

So began an explosion of government spending and regulation.  A similar occasion has materialized over the last couple years, with some of the outlays raining down on municipalities.  The latest installment just so happens to coincide with a billion-dollar bond proposal.

City Council is currently trying to figure out how to spend $88 million from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).  It’s nominally earmarked to “determine what impact the coronavirus pandemic had on San Antonio in areas ranging from small business to mental health.” 

There’s no way to ever know that though, because the fallout wasn’t totally related to the virus.  What they will find out is the destruction that followed in the wake of government lockdowns. 

Businesses were ordered closed, some never reopened, and people (especially those with families to support) stressed out over the jobs they lost.  Where’s the mystery here? 

Ahh but wait: the city has received dozens of “unsolicited requests from groups and agencies seeking” 4-times what Uncle Sam has bestowed upon us.  Wiper blades are needed to clean the computer screen of the drooling over who will get what.

Councilwoman Melissa Cabello-Havrda (D6) strikes an opportunistic tone, claiming the pandemic gave us the chance “to improve our communities.” 

If the pandemic gave us a chance for anything, it was to find ways to navigate this new virus that was spreading amongst us.  And we were starting to do that: wiping counters and doorknobs, having more hand sanitizer available, using bandanas and handkerchiefs as masks, etc. 

Whether out of fear of the virus, fear of poor emergency planning, or fear of being seen as not “doing something,” authoritarians snuffed out the adjustments citizens were making. They brought the bureaucratic hammer down on us instead.  We all remember the hysteria, grocery shortages, and strife that ensued.

Given Uncle Sam’s loose spending standards, it’s not a stretch to say they, and their special-interest and academic cronies saw this “opportunity” coming.  That may be why they fell in line with state and federal officials rather than stand with their constituents.

One could be forgiven for thinking that this kind of gravy train is connected to the repercussions of politicians’ continually pumping more taxpayer funds into higher education: a greater number of college grads possessing degrees of diminished value. 

When kids who might otherwise have explored vocational careers, are instead lured to a university by artificially easy loan terms, you’ll see a shortage of labor in the former, and a surplus in the latter. 

It’s leading some to push for unionization, which tends to suppress economy dynamism, and therefore depress prosperity.  Or worse: to ‘careers’ in lobbying, the kind that depend on government spending for their livelihood. 

Never let it be said that government doesn’t create jobs. 

Concerns have been aired about making sure these ARPA funds are used for their intended purpose, and that we avoid commitments that would put pressure on future city budgets, etc.  That’s beside the point though. 

When you have folks like Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran (D3) who believe the arts are “an economic driver,” or that it’s possible for the public sector to spend “a bucket of money … efficiently and effectively” like the private sector, as Councilman Manny Pelaez (D8) does, there’s a disconnect.

Moreover, when Councilwoman Havrda (D6) feels the aforementioned opportunities “to improve” exist because they had “previously been underfunded,” doesn’t that imply that citizens have been undertaxed?  Given their reaction to recent property tax appraisals, they probably disagree. 

If voters don’t deny the council the $1.2 billion gusher of bond debt they’re so enthusiastic about, while at the same time demanding the property tax be eliminated, this cycle will continue regardless of the source of funny money.

Somewhere Rahm is smiling.