Wow, apparently Butch Otter thinks that using taxpayer money to climb out of the economic hole that his party (and fellow rich folk) helped get us into is akin to feeding an addiction. From an article in today's Statesman on whether Idaho will accept funds from the federal stimulus package: "'If you are just going to give us money that is going into our general fund, you might as well keep it. That's like giving alcohol to an alcoholic,' said Jon Hanian, spokesman for Gov. Butch Otter." Huh? So jobs, health care and finaicial assistance are drugs?
Guess nobody in HIS family is facing a layoff, mountains of medical bills, or foreclosure.
New rule: governors must take (and pass) a basic economics class before running for election.
New rule: elected officials must not embarass their home states.
New rule: first, do no harm.
Seriously, in a state plagued with wacky politicians and backward policies, this is a new level of backward.
Please, people, we'll be seeing this stimulus package not long after the new congress convenes in January. We don't have time to dawdle. Write the governor, your legislators, your congress members, your newspapers. We can't afford to lose this money. It may be our only lifeline.
Great post, DL. I see the gov's office is backpedaling furiously to say, "No, we really DO want the money."
http://www.idahostatesman.com/531/story/601061.html
Posted by: Citizen Julie | December 12, 2008 at 10:42 AM
Why do you think republicans got us into this mess? It was Clinton and his administration that demanded that home ownership go from 60% of the country to 75%. The only way to do that was to institute sub-prime lending. Not to mention that Alan Greenspan was the Fed Chairman during the Clinton administration. Mr. Greenspan set the Feds Fund Rate to 1% during the Clinton administration stemming many an investor to go outside of treasury bills and into securitized mortgages.
True, Bush did rack up 1 trillion on deficit from the Iraq War...but the problem with jobs and houses started with Clinton.
I voted for Obama...I'm glad he won...but at least I know the facts before I go blaming an entire political party for a 'National' Crisis. It's both parties fault.
Clinton Administration - http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/hotproperty/archives/2008/02/clintons_drive.html
Credit Crisis Visualized - http://vimeo.com/3261363
Posted by: Adam | February 24, 2009 at 03:15 PM