How a government stimulus package works

It’s a cold day in the small town of Bugtussle and the streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody is living on credit.A traveller comes to town and lays a $100 bill on the hotel desk, saying he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs to pick one for the night.

As soon as he walks upstairs, the hotel owner grabs the bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher.

The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to retire his debt to the pig farmer.

The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his bill to his supplier, the Co-op.

The guy at the Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer her services on credit.

The hooker rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill with the hotel owner.

The hotel proprietor then places the $100 back on the counter so the traveler will not suspect anything. At that moment the traveler comes down the stairs, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, picks up the $100 bill and leaves.

No one produced anything. No one earned anything. However, the whole town is now out of debt and now looks to the future with a lot more optimism. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how a "stimulus package" works.

Thanks and a tip of the toque to Agent 6.

Planned Parenthood: widespread abuse revealed

On July 7th, Americans United for Life released its investigative report on Planned Parenthood. The Case for Investigating Planned Parenthood asks Congress to consider the step already taken by several American states, cutting public funding for America’s busiest abortion provider.

The report calls for a full investigation into the misuse of over $350 million in government funding received by Planned Parenthood each year. “It’s really, really time to take a very hard look at them and what it is that they are doing with our money,” said AUL president Charmaine Yoest.

Analyzing records from 20 years of Planned Parenthood activity, the AUL report found widespread evidence of problems including: misuse of federal funds, failure to report sexual abuse of minors, efforts to thwart parental-notification laws, cooperation with criminal activities such as prostitution, inappropriate use of abortifacient chemicals, and distribution of inaccurate information about the medical effects of abortion and of contraceptives.