Don't Take The Money And Stay

I have to give Paul Begala credit for once, he called out GOP governors on Monday and dared them to put their ideology ahead of their people by rejecting stimulus money for their states. I thought it was a beautiful idea, hoping the GOP would be stupid enough to fall for the trap.

Well, stupid is as stupid does.

A handful of Republican governors are considering turning down some money from the federal stimulus package, a move opponents say puts conservative ideology ahead of the needs of constituents struggling with record foreclosures and soaring unemployment.

Though none has outright rejected the money available for education, health care and infrastructure, the governors of Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alaska, South Carolina and Idaho have all questioned whether the $787 billion bill signed into law this week will even help the economy.

"My concern is there's going to be commitments attached to it that are a mile long," said Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who considered rejecting some of the money but decided Wednesday to accept it. "We need the freedom to pick and choose. And we need the freedom to say 'No thanks.'"

U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., the No. 3 House Democrat, said the governors — some of whom are said to be eyeing White House bids in 2012 — are putting their own interests first.

"No community or constituent should be denied recovery assistance due to their governor's political ideology or political aspirations," Clyburn said Wednesday.

In fact, governors who reject some of the stimulus aid may find themselves overridden by their own legislatures because of language Clyburn included in the bill that allows lawmakers to accept the federal money even if their governors object.

Yeah, please let these idiots turn down stimulus money. Let 2012 hopefuls like Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry and especially Sarah Palin turn down billions to help the people of their state get jobs and slash programs they need to help them get jobs. Let these states with rural counties in double digit unemployment hear "The people of my state don't need any help." Let them explain to the people why money that could help them got turned down because the governor is a partisan idiot attacking Obama. Let them scream that Washington is out of touch while they are denying taxpayers the benefits of the taxes they're paying. Let the resident of the state's nice, cushy governor's mansion explain why people will still be out of work because the jobs the stimulus could have provided are waste.

And then let those folks vote in 2010 and again in 2012. See what happens. Once again, Democrats need to go full bore on this plan. They need to call these governors out, as well as states where both senators and a majority of the state's congressional delegation voted against the plan. Target these guys hard.

If GOP governors wants to play politics with this stimulus cash, let them. Give them enough rope to hang themselves. Call them out for taking the money so that they go on record for turning it down.

Then see what the people of their states think at the polls.

[UPDATE] SC Gov. Mark Sanford suddenly has realized the big fat trap and has fallen right in, reversing course and saying he'll take the money. Hypocrisy complete.

[UPDATE 2] Doug at Balloon Juice has more including this lovely tidbit:

In South Carolina, a government panel is predicting that the state’s unemployment rate could reach 14 percent by the middle of next year.

Remember folks, that would be a "real" unemployment rate of 25-28 percent.