Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: Sane Republican
...I think it's a terrific package. I think if you ask a thousand people for their opinion, what is their ideal stimulus package, you will have a thousand different answers. So everyone's is a little different. I think [Barack Obama]'s done a great job and I think California benefits tremendously from that $80 billion of tax benefits there, for around $35 billion.Exactly! This package will help states like California - and Virginia - tremendously. What governor in his or her right mind would turn this down. Well, that brings us to...
Gov. Bobby Jindal: Crazy Republican
... Why would we take temporary federal dollars if we're going to end up having a permanent program?Yeah...great idea, turn down urgently needed money for your state because your right-wing ideology trumps your commonsense, let alone your concern for the people of your state (does Bobby Jindal have any at all?). Ah, "compassionate" conservatism. :)
And here's the problem. So many of these things that are called temporary programs end up being permanent government programs. But this one's crystal clear, black and white letter law. The federal stimulus bill says it has to be a permanent change in state law if you take this state money. And so within three years the federal money's gone, we've got now a permanent change in our laws, we have to pay for it, our businesses pay for it. I don't think it makes sense to be raising taxes on Louisiana businesses during these economically challenging times. And what it shows is what we're going to do in the stimulus is we're going to look at every program, every dollar. If it makes sense for Louisiana, makes sense for our taxpayers, we'll use those programs and dollars. If it doesn't, like on Friday we said, "This doesn't make sense for us. This is not a good deal for us." It makes--my job is to represent Louisiana's taxpayers. Makes no sense for us to take temporary federal dollars and create permanent state obligations.
UPDATE: For another sane Republican, see here as Charlie Crist says that supporting Barack Obama's stimulus package is "a matter of helping the people." Crist adds, " I think my obligation is in essence the CEO of the state, to do everything I can to help us get through this tough economy. Certainly this stimulus package, about $12.2 billion to Florida, will help Florida an awful lot."
