Economists don’t believe the stimulus package will work. Obama supporters, however, believe if we build it, they will come. After all, that’s how it happened in “The Music Man” and “Field of Dreams.”

Free marketeers know the economy could mend if government stopped trying to control it. In fact, it is safe to say that practically every law government clamps on the economy hurts it. The only reason plans don’t look so bad is the human survival instinct is the mother of creative workarounds. Ayn Rand said that people only buy into socialism because, whether they admit it to themselves or not, they’re hoping to net more than they would with fair trade.

One problem with the stimulus plan is that it takes from individuals to give to corporations and government. If this isn’t enough, Asheville’s Mayor Terry Bellamy, who only two weeks ago said that people need jobs so they can pay taxes, announced today a campaign that will help private citizens bail out government. That’s right. Bellamy wants citizens to buy US Savings Bonds. As private citizens stimulate the federal government, the federal government will be better-equipped to fund local projects. Bill Fishburne, who serves on Asheville’s Public Art Board, recently informed me that his colleagues stared at him like a space alien when he opposed Cultural Arts Superintendent Diane Ruggiero’s request for a brainstorm for possible uses of federal stimulus dollars.

On the flip-side, the more US citizens pay for government excess, the less the Chinese will have to.