Congress and Your Money

The House bill aimed to tax 90% of bonuses at certain firms receiving taxpayer money has slowed, but sentiment remains. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D, Md.) stated that no one receiving taxpayer money "ought to miss the anger that was reflected in the passage of that bill, or the possibility of policies being adopted in reaction to the continued insensitivity to the concerns of taxpayers." We are witnessing a serious strain between the government and private sectors. Congressional leaders assumed that if you give people public money, they will automatically behave in the best interests of the general public welfare, as opposed to their own private self-interest. Instead of responsibly ensuring that taxpayers had a series of protections in place before distributing their money, Congressional leaders just assumed, or hoped, or perhaps wished that businesses would behave like governmental bodies as soon as public money touched their balance sheets. Now people are outraged because of these companies "selfishness." I am of a different mind - this selfishness is in part what drives capitalism and causes economic agents to ensure efficiency. Many say this selfishness is what caused the crisis - I disagree. Selfishness was a part of it, but only selfishness embedded in a system with assymetric payoffs, or selfishness with the wrong incentives. Perhaps if Congress had exhibited some responsible self-interest, we wouldn't be watching taxpayer money get thrown away.