Billions and billions

Can we burn the money to heat houses?

AAfter complaining about the covid-stimulus package, which is less covid-stimulus than it should have been—and also complaining about how the money is divvied up — some state officials could be accused of not liking the menu, and complaining that the servings are too small.

But shouldn’t somebody note when the federal government seems addicted to sugar highs?

The normally clear-headed David Brooks was featured in the Perspective section over the weekend. He noted that over the past year, the United States has spent $5.5 trillion “fighting the pandemic.” (A lot of this money has had nothing to do with the pandemic.) And, in today’s dollars, the U.S. spent only $4.8 trillion fighting World War II. He seemed to think spending more on semi-covid relief than all of World War II is a good thing. Things are getting loco.

The federal government is sending $1.7 billion to Arkansas in “state fiscal relief.” That, according to Frank Lockwood’s story in Saturday’s paper. Another $1 billion is going to local governments for local relief.

The state’s public schools will get more than $1.2 billion. That’s $4 billion flowing downhill to Arkansas before we count stimulus checks to individuals.

The state of Arkansas never needed $1.7 billion in “state fiscal relief.” We imagine some in state government will be glad to get the money — Santa is always popular — but the state of Arkansas is required to balance its budget. All governors of Arkansas have to budget conservatively every year in case, for example, there’s a pandemic that shuts everything down.

How in the world will Arkansas spend this $4 billion?

This year’s entire budget was $5.89 billion.

“My first priority,” the current governor says, “will be [to] invest in rural broadband and IT infrastructure. The human needs of our state such as rent assistance and food programs are being increased and met through separate funding streams.”

Broadband is great. But what about the other $3.9 billion?

New programs are probably not in the mix. That’s how states get into budget trouble, by using found money one year to start programs with recurring expenses. And The Wall Street Journal reports that tax cuts won’t be allowed under the relief legislation. (Allowed? That’s another editorial.) A columnist for the Tax Foundation says the wording of the bill might make it difficult to pass any tax cuts between now and 2024. (Read it here: nwaonline.com/316taxcuts/)

The schools of Arkansas will get $1.2 billion, or as the education commissioner calls it, “a huge amount of money.”

The trucks are coming. They’re loaded with cash for local and state governments. Many of which aren’t hurting, not financially anyway. And we don’t see a whole lot of plans about how the money is going to be spent. People on MSNBC keep saying the “adults are back in charge” in Washington. But if this is financial responsibility, what would negligent recklessness be?

They say Carl Sagan never really made a habit of saying “billions and billions.” It was just a tired phrase tied to him. These days, the tired phrase is “trillions and trillions.” And it’s coming from our nation’s capital.