Stimulus and Response: Part Deux

In the past week, five Republican governors in the South have said they are considering, or have already decided upon, not accepting at least part of the stimulus funding alloted to the states.

One of them is Bobby Jindal, the pro-life Catholic (it can happen!) Governor of Louisiana, and a possible candidate for the GOP Presidential nomination in 2012. He's not talking much about his political future, but in a recent appearance on NBC's Meet The Press, he's not holding back on the present. Notice his emphasis on the long-term obligations for a short-term solution. Funding for transportation infrastructure pays for itself over time, in the form of tax revenue for commercial use; at least that can pay for itself in short order. Unemployment insurance is another matter.

A governor less reluctant to take a Federal handout is -- where else? -- in California. On another Sunday morning talking-head show the same day, Ahh-nold licks his Viennese chops in a desperate attempt to keep his state from sliding into either bankruptcy, or the ocean, whichever comes first. An old adage says it best: "The drowning man will grab even the point of a sword." These two vignettes show an illuminating contrast, in how the nation is responding to something that won't go away by throwing money at it.
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