Have a couple cows and a farm? Wanna make a bunch of money for doing nothing? The Washington Post is apparently chronicling the debacle that it’s Livestock Compensation Program has become. Indiscriminate, unverified distribution of federal taxpayer money – to anyone pretty much anyone who wants it. Your tax dollars, hard at work – buying BMWs for farmers who’ve never lost a single cow to a drought.
But surprise, surfuckingprise, the government has yet to figure out how to effectively manage and limit handouts. Whenever free money is up for grabs, it seems that more people than anticipated show up to reap the benefits. This leads to situations like the Livestock program, where “Short-staffed county offices were hard pressed to verify the numbers. They did only limited spot checks.” A government spookesman said that in the interest of rapid disbursement of funds, and the “[S]everity of the drought, we were confident enough of the losses” to forgo the time-consuming process of checking every farm and ranch, Loyd said.”
Bureaucracy has no incentive to ensure the funds were distributed appropriately, because they are not accountable for distributing the funds appropriately – nor were they responsible for raising the funds. Compounding the issue, others have a strong incentive to ask for handouts – the worst the Fed can say is “No.”
Classical Economists recognized that when someone is given a privelege, they will take advantage of it. This is clearly demonstrated by one rancher who “Said he was embarrassed by the $40,000 check, [but] he added: “If there is money available, you might as well take it. You would be a fool not to.”
You’d be a fool not to. And a thief if you do.