WASHINGTON — The nation’s governors descended on the capital this weekend to consider how to spend their share of the $787 billion economic stimulus and to lay the groundwork for more federal largess to come. Nearly all the governors have been demanding help from Washington for months, and 46 states are facing budget shortfalls. Some have already been forced to lay off workers. So they need the money, but at least four Republican governors say they will turn at least some of it away. Leading the critics was South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. ‘The stimulus is a huge mistake,’ Sanford told ABC News, ‘a political promise that’s been made but not paid for.’ Sanford said he would reject unemployment insurance because of what he said were federal strings attached to it, and also said he would not take $42 million in funding for green buildings. Like Sanford, Republican Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi said he would reject the federal unemployment extension money, which requires that states extend the benefits to workers laid off from part-time jobs. ‘We will not be accepting unemployment insurance money because it requires us to have a significant tax increase […]
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
GOP Governors Reject Some of Obama’s Stimulus Funds
Author: JOHN HENDREN
Source: ABC News
Publication Date: Feb. 21, 2009
Link: GOP Governors Reject Some of Obama’s Stimulus Funds
Source: ABC News
Publication Date: Feb. 21, 2009
Link: GOP Governors Reject Some of Obama’s Stimulus Funds
Stephan: Watch the economic performance of the states whose governors decline the stimulus money for ideological reasons, and who choose not to participate in the redevelopment programs of the new administration. And watch how the citizens (and voters) in those states react at the next election. One of the most amazing political facts of the past three decades is how many people vote against their own self-interest on the basis of ideology.