Palin says no to $515 million in ‘help’
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said yesterday that she won’t accept a significant part of the money allocated to Alaska in the economic ’stimulusplan’ of President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.
She’ll accept some hundreds of millions dollars for measures she believes helpful to stimulate the state’s economy, but she said no to $515 million because she believes this money will be spent on plans Democrats have had for years, which do little to nothing to stimulate the economy yet increase the size of the federal government tremendously, and come with too many strings attached to them. Lastly, Palin argues that the federal government wants to kick off new major projects which Washington will only support for a few years, after those years Alaska will have to pay for these new projects itself.
Although Alaskans are generally very independent-minded and critical of the federal government, Palin is taking a tremendous risk nonetheless. She’ll be up for reelection next year; she can be darn sure that her opponent, whomever he will be, will criticize her refusal and use it to portray her as anti-education (part of the $515 million was meant for education), anti-the people, etc.
The above leads me to believe that Palin’s stance is due to her national rather than regional ambitions. If she wants to be her party’s candidate for president in 2012, she knows she’ll have to convince the base that she’s a real fiscal conservative who wants to make government smaller rather than bigger.
Also blogged at Dagelijkse Standaard.
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Perhaps she has read the bill, and, along with several other governors, realizes that after two years the offers become more “unfunded Federal mandates” that the state will not be able to afford.
That is the problem with this stimulus bill. There are all kinds of stuff in there that become permanent and force the Fiscal GOP to just say no and then when they do the other side makes hay with it as being against the little man. Wanting everyone to suffer and die.
But the American people know stuff. They are learning how the politicians play this game and this stuff is now coming to light and we are understanding more and more how DC works.
They lie, cheat and steal and deflect, spin and do more lying to accomplish only one thing. To make the other side look bad so that the American people will think they are good and the other side is evil.
But we know stuff about that stuff. It just can’t be hidden anymore.
Stuff. It does a body good.
I pointed that out, I believe?
See here:
FraidyKatt:
Which is, I believe, a good thing. It’s time Americans see through political games.
Good call on her part! I have heard this same argument on my local radio talk show about States taking this federal money that will fund liberal inititives for a few years and the sate is on their own to you, raise taxes yet again to pay for them. I am glad these sorts of games are finally coming to light. “The devil is in the details” as they say. If doling out money like this doesn’t involve simple principles, something is fishy.