Senator: I Decide, Not the Country

Whoa! This is one of the most revealing quotes of the year thus far.  While touring Siemens’ wind energy plant in Hutchinson, Kansas, Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) dismissed criticism of the targeted tax subsidy designed to make wind power competitive.

Via The Hutchinson News:

There are members of Congress who feel we ought not to pick winners and losers, to let the markets decided. I believe it’s better to get this industry up and running, then let the country decide… rather than pull the rug out overnight.

Never before has there been such a plainspoken defense of picking winners and losers.  Whenever you hear someone in Washington talk about manipulating the market it always down to this: I believe this is the right way and I am not going to let the country decide.

The Heritage Foundation’s Nick Loris has the details on why targeted tax credits are neither conservative nor free market.