I wish I had more enthusiastic news to report for the State of Mississippi, but apparently Governor Haley Barbour is wary of the "strings attached" to the federal stimulus package. This news even shocked the Speaker of the state's House Billy McCoy, a Democrat in the R+13 state.
"It makes every bit as much sense for the federal government, with all its power and might, to be involved in assisting the nation as a whole -- states, counties communities and individuals -- in this terrible economic disaster just as much as it did in the physical disaster in Katrina,..."
"...I didn't see anybody who wanted to turn any money down then, and I can't understand the leader of a state having any kind of negative thought about accepting the proceeds of this congressional effort."
As reported in Tuesday's (2/3/09) Commercial Appeal, Barbour is believes since no Republican in the US House of Representatives voted for the package, his state, one of the poorest in country, should wait and see what conditions are attached to taking the nearly $2.6 billion that Mississippi. His main concern is whether the state would be required to pick up the tab after the stimulus package ended in July of 2010. He also stated a concern for an extension of unemployment benefits to part-time workers.
"The law in our state is clear. Before you can get unemployment, you have to be ready, willing and able to work full-time,"
Now let me get this straight, Haley. You didn't object to the Bush Katrina recovery package in anyway, but now with the Obama Plan you aren't so sure?
"It's not a possibility of strings being attached, it's a certainty ... and until we get a look at what finally passes and all of the implications, it is my belief that there may be some things that we'd be better off not to take,"
Haley is suffering from Lame Duck Disease. He doesn't have to face the voters again as he is term-limited as Governor and there are 2 Republicans in the Senate already (Thad Cochran just reelected until 2014, Roger Wicker filled Trent Lott's term until 2012). So he can do the bidding of the RNC establishment, which he course used to be in charge of from 1993 to 1997. He'll let the trial balloons flow from Jackson, while holding his state hostage
"I will say, I suspect, that most of the money will either have strings attached that are insignificant or they're manageable. But there are some that are not. And if I consider them to be against the best interest of the state, then I will oppose them."
So got that Mississippi...no new bridges, no help with healthcare costs, how about a $310 million budget deficit? Haley's got your back!
McCoy summed it up perfectly...
"It seems to me like not a single Republican voted for it in the House, and some of the Republican governors wanted to back them up with some of that negativity,"
edited to fix the dates of the Senators' terms