Obama: We need to save the same jobs again with $50B more in state bailouts (It never ends)

Posted on Sunday, June 13, 2010 8:13:31 PM by SeekAndFind


The state and local grants in Porkulus acted as a federal bailout package for state bureaucrats, who otherwise may have lost their jobs as state and local governments cut spending in order to balance budgets. The White House sold this as rescues of teachers and first responders, but as a series of local newspapers reported, those jobs were never in jeopardy. The money that got added to those budget items got transferred elsewhere to save less politically sensitive bureaucrats elsewhere, while the Obama administration claimed to have saved millions of jobs through these bailout transfers.

Of course, that only works for a single budget year, and the same structural cost issues that existed over the last year continue today, thanks to the federal bailout. What’s the Obama administration answer for that? Another bailout:

President Obama urged reluctant lawmakers Saturday to quickly approve nearly $50 billion in emergency aid to state and local governments, saying the money is needed to avoid “massive layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters” and to support the still-fragile economic recovery.

In a letter to congressional leaders, Obama defended last year’s huge economic stimulus package, saying it helped break the economy’s free fall, but argued that more spending is urgent and unavoidable. “We must take these emergency measures,” he wrote in an appeal aimed primarily at members of his own party. …


With the letter, however, Obama makes a direct and unequivocal case for additional “targeted investments,” including state aid and several less-expensive initiatives aimed at assisting small businesses. He specifically calls for passage of the measure that is before the Senate, which would extend unemployment benefits and offer states additional aid, increasing deficits by nearly $80 billion over the next decade.

Obama asks lawmakers to be patient on the deficit, noting that a special commission is at work on a comprehensive deficit-reduction plan.

That’s a laugh. Obama wants people to believe he’s serious about deficit reform, and so he’s proposing making the deficit worse until someone forces him to stop spending. It’s the action of an addict. I can stop spending any time I want. I just don’t want to do it right now.


Besides, the jobs targeted by these bloc-grant bailouts are the exact same ones claimed by the White House last year. When do people in Minnesota get to stop bailing out California bureaucrats?

http://conservativecamp.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=397273&catid=88&Itemid=56