By John Prothro

The most duplicitous paragraph in Obama’s State of the Union speech was this:

Last year, we made the largest investment in basic research funding in history… You can see the results of last year's investment in clean energy -- in the North Carolina company that will create 1200 jobs nationwide helping to make advanced batteries; or in the California business that will put 1,000 people to work making solar panels…

Since the President insists on calling government spending “investment,” I think it’s important to point out the obvious.  First, the government has no money to “invest” beyond what it seizes from the private sector.  And whether the money comes from direct taxation, borrowing, or printing—one way or another—every American citizen is paying for every “investment.” Government does not create wealth; it leeches it.

Second, these aren’t investments at all, unless you consider investing to be placing money in industries where government artificially (and temporarily) manipulates demand to appease whatever special interest happens to own the party in power.

Here we have the biggest issue: this President is not investing in the American people, as he claims; he is investing in a big government philosophy. The reason more and more Americans are losing their jobs is because the President wants to take money from the private sector to fund liberal pet projects, not to get people back to work.  Who can with a straight face explain how cap and trade, tax increases on the wealthy, and green energy “investments” will actually create jobs?

If there was an actual Obama Investment Co., I’d like to call their customer hotline and ask a few questions about green energy investments:

For every green job created, how many jobs are lost? 

How long can the government artificially raise demand for green technology? 

Is this another cash for clunkers scheme where a government sponsored boom is followed by an easily foreseen bust?

What percentage of every dollar that government seizes for these investments is spent on government overhead?

How do you define "investment"?

As President Obama said in the State of the Union, it’s time we return to common sense.  I agree with his sentiment.  We can start by using words that have real meaning and calling government “investments” what they are—wasteful and unproductive schemes overseen by wasteful and unproductive bureaucrats.