The Lights Are On, But Nobody's Home

I normally have far more regard for Midwestern sensibility than I do for the ADD-addled decision-making processes used on the coasts. I’m going to have to reevaluate that, if Jay Emler gets his way.

Mr. Emler is the chairman of the Kansas Ways and Means Committee. The article I read doesn’t say if he’s a Republican or a Democrat, which is fine by me; I can’t be accused of bias by either side. His plan for Kansas’ share of the economic stimulus money is to bank it for a rainy day. Honest to God.

"When [the stimulus] runs out, we're going to be in a world of hurt . . . so I'd rather see this go into a fund that we would not be able to access except for emergencies," Emler said. "While this is a 'stimulus' package, that's not how I run my personal life. I don't know a whole lot of people who go out and spend if they realize that in two years they're not going to have money."

It doesn’t say what Mr. Emler considers to be an emergency. I guess if he was in debt and his roof blew off he’d just sit in the rain until times got better. The money helps no one if Kansas sits on it. It’s a stimulus, and it only stimulates if it’s in use. Saving it for a rainier day is the surest way to ensure you’ll need it later.

The almost willful inability of some presumably intelligent people to grasp the simplest concepts is astounding, if those concepts run counter to their pre-conceived notions. Forget conservative and liberal. There is no more dangerous philosophy than believing you already know everything you need to know to successfully confront a previously unseen situation.