In theory a lot of Republican voters probably say they don’t want the money. In reality they’re gonna go to the next PTA meeting, and listen to teachers discuss what gets axed. Then they go home, and watch their Governor reject the money that could save the school band. It’s kinda hard to tell your teenage kid he has to give up his beloved High School soccer team because the of the Governor’s strong principles.

So if they don’t take the money these Govs are going to have quite a bit of explaining to do to soccer moms. At best that’s gonna make re-election a lot more stressful, and give the Democrat some real good talking points.

If they end up accepting all (or even some) of the money they look like hypocrites. Which plays directly into the Democratic narrative that the GOP doesn’t actually believe a word of their Conservative rhetoric, and it’s just using right-wing voters. This is a hell of an issue to flip-flop on.

If they have to take it they look incompetent.

There’s just no political up-side to this press conference.If they take the money they look bad. If they don’t take the money they piss off their voters…

Of course, principles may be at stake too, but I long ago stopped considering that as a major factor for politicians.

“I’m running out of adjectives to describe the slime which breeds within the current version of the republican party…” – mp

Another insightful and thoughtful analysis by Mario. Could someone help the guy out and buy him a thesaurus? He needs more adjectives. It is very important to keep ad hominem arguments fresh, especially when it’s all you got.

I agree with Kranky. As much as I’d like to believe they are willing to stand on principle, I expect this is a lot of eyewash on the part of the GOP Governors. I’ll stand by my comment on another thread – I have yet to see or hear of any governor, of any state, of any party, at any time, who did not think the feds should give their state more money and would take it gladly.

Please Bobby – prove me wrong.

It appears they’re linking their political future (at the least, the 2010 and 2012 elections) on the success or failure of the recovery bill. I’m running out of adjectives to describe the slime which breeds within the current version of the republican party – the same version which has run the show for the last 8 years. These guy just aren’t understanding the message they received from the electorate in the last election.

What strings are attached?

The PATRIOT Act’s reasoning for seeking records from public libraries was based on “if you want our funds, you need to follow our rules”. The same thing applied 20+ years ago with raising the drinking age and highway funds. Now multiply this by 100 and apply it to every sector.

If the Feds required States to release driving records on anyone to get highway funds, would you want your State to accept the money?

If the Feds required hospitals to open all records to review for “inefficiencies”, would you want your State to accept the money? If I recall correctly, that rule is already in there.

Even if the strings for the money are acceptable now, what prevents the Feds from going back and adding new rules retroactively? It’s plausible, they did it with the banks.

Would you sign the smallest agreement when the other side can change the terms without your consent? This is a Faustian deal at best.