Who will spend the money? Uncle Sam or aunt Ida?

Wrangling in the U. S. Senate is said to be intense, centered on the question of how much of the stepped-up spending should be devoted to construction projects, and how much to tax cuts.

Odds are that the real issue will never be mentioned, however long the debate goes on.

Translated into the language of the street, the issue is this: how much of the money will be spent by government, and how much by taxpayers?

The framers clearly intended that rank and file citizens, through their spending, would shape America as they saw fit. Their spending would determine what gets made and marketed, and what goes unwanted and unsold. Markets, not politicians or bureaucrats, would shape the country.

Had markets remained paramount, none of those subprime mortgages would have been granted and the current financial debacle would not have happened. Free markets do not allow loans to people who obviously can not repay the lender.

Now the struggle between markets and government control is playing out once again in the Senate. President Obama and the Democrat-controlled Senate favor public spending projects that would be chosen by elected officials and appointed bureaucrats.

The minority Republicans favor a heavier role for tax cuts, which leave spending decisions up to taxpayers, who would be allowed to keep a bigger share of their incomes.

More money will be spent. The question is, who will spend it.

How the struggle turns out could be historic.