Cycle of Economic Violence

"The Senate voted Tuesday to give a tax break to new car buyers, setting aside bipartisan concerns over the size of an economic stimulus bill with a price tag edging above $900 billion."

Why are the Democrats in Congress trying to help sell more cars? Don't they know that these are pollution machines? I thought the Democrats would rather use the money on "green" projects. When you are throwing around money, I guess you can do both.

As all Austrians know, every government solution creates a new problem for the government to solve. This mass transit vs. automobile argument is the pinnacle of government problem creation and solving. First the government builds roads and gives a tax break to encourage car purchases. Then some people complain about the pollution and "urban sprawl" that the subsidized roads and cars helped create. To fix this problem, they fund mass transit projects and restrict oil production to cut back on pollution. This discourages driving and auto purchases, especially when oil spikes up to four dollars a gallon because no new refineries or oil fields have been opened in decades, requiring the government to help the auto companies through tax breaks, loans, bailouts, and increased gas production. All of a sudden, people start driving again, hurting mass transit and increasing pollution, starting the cycle over again.

People complain about the "cycle of violence" in wars. This subsidizing of both automobiles and mass transit is a cycle of economic violence that destroys billions in wealth.