Bobby Jindal to Refuse Some Obama Stimulus Money

Bobby Jindal, the young, reformist Republican Governor of Louisiana does not like one part of the Obama stimulus package directed to his state is therefore disinclined to accept the money. The part concerns the expansion of the unemployment compensation program.

Part of the Obama stimulus plan directed to the states is designed to expand the number of people eligible for state unemployment compensation programs, the money paid to people who are laid off and are looking for work. The problem, as Bobby Jindal sees it, is that if a state accepts this part of the Obama stimulus package, the money will run out in three years and the state will have to either restrict eligibility requirements again or to pay for the expanded program out of state funds.

Governor Bobby Jindal will accept funds that will increase the amount offered as unemployment compensation by twenty five dollars a week and for the financing of certain infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges. While Bobby Jindal is philosophically opposed to the Obama stimulus package, the fact is that it has passed and it would be counter-productive for a state governor to refuse funding that would benefit a state.

Bobby Jindal's concerns are shared by other Republican Governors such as Haley Barbour of Mississippi, Rick Perry of Texas, Mark Sanford of South Carolina, and Sarah Palin of Alaska. Democratic governors, such as Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, as well as Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California are eager to get whatever money than can manage from the federal government to help stanch their state budgets that are bleeding red ink.

Part of the problem of the federal government handing out money to the states is that it tends to reward bad habits that certain state governments have indulged in during the past several years. California and Michigan are prime examples of states that have spent money with great enthusiasm while economic times were good and now seem unwilling to cut back during an economic downturn. In any case, as Bobby Jindal and other governors have found out, the Obama stimulus package contains funding that has strings attached that will raise state spending even more, making it necessary to either raise taxes or cut spending in other accounts.

Of course there is a political element as well. Several of the Republican governors, such as Bobby Jindal, Sarah Palin, and Mark Sanford have been mentioned as possible candidates for President in 2012. It would look very good on their resumes to have stood up to President Obama's attempt foist money on their states that has strings attached, while denouncing the concept of the Obama stimulus package. If the Obama stimulus package remains as unpopular three years from now as it seems to be currently, a politician who opposed it, even if he or she ultimately benefited, would seem politically potent in the campaign to replace Barack Obama.

Source: Jindal says no, will Barbour, Sanford, Perry, Otter and Palin follow?, Jon Rapoport, LA Democrat Examiner, February 21st, 2009