Absurd Ideas

Ed O'Keefe dug into the question of whether or not President Obama has the authority to furlough federal workers yesterday. But Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's demand that "I hope every federal employee from the president all the way down takes 15 days without pay to turn that money back to taxpayers' use, because they're getting laid off, they're getting cut back, there are no jobs out there," really on its face doesn't make a lot of sense. Is it really a better deal for taxpayers to get 15 days less of federal services, and to have the money for that pay and benefits be channeled into...what? Daley doesn't specify what he wants done with that money, other than the standard "back to the taxpayers." But I'm not sure that whatever stimulative effect that money had would actually be better for Americans. If someone's disability claim gets delayed for 15 days, or it becomes harder for someone to get their passport to go on a business trip, or file a patent claim, or whatever, I'm not sure it's actually better for the economy.