Lobbyists Loot the Capital
Feasting on tragedy.

By Ronald Utt, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation
October 5, 2001 9:25 a.m.

ithin hours of the terrorist attack, ordinary Americans organized themselves into the most awesome relief force the world has ever seen. Blood-donation centers were overwhelmed, trained rescue workers from little towns and big cities marched into harms way, while young men and women enlisted in the armed forces by the thousands. Financial contributions to charities are at $675 million and rising. The degree of sacrifice is without precedent and an extraordinary tribute to the spirit and determination of the American people.

But for many in the nation's capital, the renewed patriotism encouraged a parade of special interests to wrap themselves in the flag and use the tragic events to link their causes to the $40 billion Congress authorized for relief. Compared to the real America, what passes for sacrifice in Washington is how much of the taxpayer's money you can spend on your friends.

However tastefully circumspect these Washington-style sacrifices may have been just after the attack, the bloated bailout of airline shareholders encouraged other lobbyists to create the kind of spectacle H. L. Mencken described 65 years ago when he wrote that: "…government is a broker in pillage and every election is a sort of advance auction of stolen goods."

Elected officials representing America's troubled steel industry were quick to validate Mencken's cynicism by demanding restrictions on imports of less costly foreign steel. Defending his actions, one Senator claimed "Without steel we cannot guarantee our national security. Without steel we cannot build from our tragedy." How these objectives would be reached by creating shortages and raising prices was never explained.

Although no buses were used as weapons and scheduled bus service received a boost when airports closed, the American Bus Association claimed the "U.S. motorcoach industry is in the midst of an economic crisis…" and asked Congress for cash grants, low interest rate loans, tax repeal, and a program to promote tourism.

And apparently oblivious to alternatives on the internet, the American Society of Travel Agents says "without travel agencies, the nation's travel industry cannot function." They want $4 billion.

Even farmers are using the terrorist attack to flog a $167 billion farm-subsidy bill that earlier no one thought would pass because of its cost. But supporters now contend that the assault has "…bolstered the argument that food production is a vital national interest." Apparently unaware that the destruction was confined to urban areas, farm associations wrote Congress "…farmers, like other industries that Congress has helped since the terrorist attacks, are suffering economically."

These unseemly appeals pale in comparison to Amtrak's abuse of the tragedy in its perennial effort to extract bigger subsidies from government. Confronting the prospect of financial insolvency because of operating losses that have worsened year after, the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) — an Amtrak support group advocating federal subsidies — e-mailed members that "The tragedy and its aftermath raise the possibility that more Americans will see the need for more modern passenger trains. We will be pointing this out."

Apparently, Americans didn't see it as quickly as NARP hoped because Amtrak wasn't included in the airline bailout. So NARP tried to make things clearer with the perversely accurate assertion that "Amtrak took on unusual importance right after the tragedy." Unusual indeed! Within hours of the attack, trains scheduled to leave Washington, D.C. were canceled, stranding more than 5,000 commuters in a city under terrorist assault.

Nonetheless, NARP urged Congress to support Amtrak loans costing $19.1 billion, and Amtrak's me-too proposal for an emergency-cash infusion of $3 billion, an amount well in excess of its total annual revenues of $2 billion. But within days, new Amtrak bailout proposals of $37 billion and $70 billion surfaced in Congress.

Sorting through these demands will be a challenge for Congress as the legitimate needs of real victims compete with scamming grifters seeking advantage in the catastrophe. America has never faced such circumstances so there is little precedent to guide Congress in choosing among conflicting demands. Left with little more than their own good judgement and goodwill, perhaps Congress could gain inspiration from the sacrifices already made by millions of ordinary Americans, and before each decision, simply ask: Am I serving my country as well as the New York firemen and policemen served their city?