Stimulus Money Held Back by States

On NewsMax.com, the story “Stimulus Red Tape Tying States in Knots,” explains the red tape are running into trying to allocate the stimulus funds. This exemplifies why the government is not efficient and cannot do anything quickly. This shows how the government is the problem and not solving the problem.

The following issues are in the story:

“As states scramble to understand the stimulus, delays are blamed on those who don't want to use all the money and those who are trying to build budgets around it. Clashes over how to spend discretionary money in the stimulus could bog things down even more, especially in 22 states where party control over state government is split:

In Michigan, House Democrats fear that a special appropriations subcommittee set up by Senate Republicans to oversee stimulus spending is a ploy to drag things out. Republicans say they want to make sure spending is done wisely.

In Missouri, the GOP-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon disagree on how extensively to use stimulus money. Nixon proposed to sprinkle it throughout the budget, but some Republicans want to wait and spend much of the stimulus money through a separate bill focused on one-time uses such as construction projects or a tax rebate.

In California, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrats who control the legislature both want to tap as much of the federal recovery kitty as they can get. The state is in line for at least $31.5 billion.

But Democrats in California are still negotiating with their GOP counterparts over fine-print legislative changes needed to bring in federal cash. The state must undo Medicaid eligibility changes and expand its wastewater treatment program. Republicans worry about giving unemployment checks to more people when the federal government is already covering the state's unemployment costs.”

Now, if the government had given people tax cuts or just written checks directly to reasonable, qualified people, such as $100,000. First, it would be more fiscal responsible than what was done. It would have been cheaper and without all the earmarks and wasteful projects. The money would be used more efficient than this political red tape mess. We would have the money faster and used in our economy faster. The economy would recover faster.

But, that makes too much sense. So, the states are now going to argue on how to spend the money and slow down the process even further. The big government bureaucracy is going to waste more of the money in bureaucracies where most our money is usually wasted. So, whatever little and temporary help the stimulus will give the economy is lessened even further with bureaucracies and political squabbling.