The $100 million bribe for Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) written into the senate health care bill vividly illustrates what happens when a nation moves away from a free market system driven by economic capital to a government directed system driven by political capital.
Democrats needed Landrieu’s vote, so they inserted two pages of language into the bill that increases federal Medicaid subsidies for “certain states recovering from a major disaster.” And the section was written in such a way that only one state qualified – you guessed it, Louisiana.
But Landrieu assures us that the provision didn’t influence her vote. And while uncontrollable laughter is our first reaction, she may well be telling the truth. It may well be that her vote influenced the provision.
The good Senator from Louisiana knew that she had the Democratic leadership by the proverbial shorthairs, so she did what any good dealer in political capital does. She grabbed some goodies for her home state and likely some votes in future elections.
That’s how the U.S. system works in this new economy. It’s not about economic capital chasing markets. It’s about political capital chasing power, and those with the political capital possess the power.
As a result, special interest groups evolve to battle over the spoils. And victimhood becomes the weapon of choice. Hurricane Katrina provided the battering ram for Landrieu. Her state “needs” the subsidies because of its victim status. And citizens of the other 49 states get to foot the bill. Somebody, after all, has to pay. It's only fair.
That leaves Kentuckians wondering when they will get theirs. The state experienced $1.2 billion worth of storm damage in 2008-2009 between the windstorm caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ike and the January ’09 ice storm.
And therein lies the problem. If Louisiana gets special treatment, so should Kentucky, and so should Texas (Hurricane Ike virtually destroyed Galveston) and so should…
So the system of political capitalism subdivides us into groups, each trying to demonstrate the greatest need in order to generate enough political capital to nose its way into the public trough.
Landrieu worked the system like a master. Soon we will all need to develop similar skills to survive in this new age.
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