Analysis: The House adjourned a week ago, but due to a last minute passage of additional bailout funding to states for being unable to manage their own finances, they will come back for another round of spending. On Tuesday, they are set to vote on the Senate amendment to H.R. 1586 that was originally a House FAA authorization bill replaced now with a $26.1 billion bailout that includes $10 billion to teachers’ salaries and $16.1 billion for extension of Federal Medicaid matching rates. The House will take up the measure on Tuesday as …
The federal government’s bailout parade wasn’t enough to save California this week. In a move that drew praise from some conservative quarters, President Obama refused to send federal aid to the Golden State. California had asked the Treasury Department to help with its $24 billion deficit. But rather than open the U.S. treasury to ailing states, Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner decided California must first get its budget in order before relying on a federal bailout. Reacting to the news at this week’s Bloggers Briefing at The Heritage Foundation, …
Out-of-control spending has been the theme of 2009. In his first fifty days in office, President Obama and the 111th Congress spent one billion dollars an hour. Using money to bail out the states, 40 of which are running state deficits, simply encourages more spending. In response, Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC) wrote a letter to the South Carolina state legislature explaining his decision to ask President Obama for a waiver allowing him to use federal stimulus money to pay down state debt. Also in response, and in good timing, the …
