Washington, D.C.: Too Big To Fail?

I'm starting to think that the federal government is taking a page out of Bernie Madoff's playbook: spend money gotten from the Ponzi-scheme known as the U.S. Tax Code like a vory v zakone on vacation in the Thailand, and then when you run out of cash or get caught desperately plea bargain to a lesser sentence.

How else can you explain this?

"The White House announced yesterday that it will grant emergency funding to the District to help with soaring costs for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, while forecasters said snow could add to the day's complications...

...The White House statement said that President Bush "declared an emergency exists in the District of Columbia" linked to the inauguration. It said the city would get federal money for protective measures "undertaken to save lives and protect public health and safety."...

... Yesterday was the first time the emergency declaration had been made in advance of a political event, said Scott Stanzel, a White House spokesman..."

Yup, that's right: a bailout for the politicans' hometown soiree.

There's no way that a fully sensible person would green light this expenditure. The nano-thin string connecting our representatives' brains to the national coffers has finally been severed. The culture of the Beltway has rotted so completely that there is apparently no fiscal restraint. At all.

No cause too small, no bill too large, I guess.

I know this might be crazy, D.C., but have you ever thought of requiring a cover charge? You know, something like a $10 per person fee to get into the city for the day? You don't think people would pay that?

I'm shutting down my computer and having a cocktail, before I write something I regret.