If you leave a man alone to fish...

he will feed himself and master his needs. Maybe teach his kids to wet a line too.

If you take away his fishing grounds, and pay him handsomely for the privilege of not fishing ... he really hasn't hit the jackpot.

It's a shame to pretend whoever gets some of that $20 billion largess -- to be distributed in a notably corrupt political environment -- is a winner.

I think we should make a point to track every penny of the payouts -- which we didn't bother to do both in Iraq, or with the TARP monies. (Look and plan ahead, not behind.)

Let's see who exactly is getting what -- down to the penny -- to try and avoid some of the fraud we saw after the hurricanes. We've got that "it would be a shame to let a national emergency go to political waste" mindset on the loose already down there...

Ask the Indians what happens when you pay a man not to fish.