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Chuck Schumer is playing hardball with the governors who are trying to pick and choose which bits of stimulus money to take. “No one would dispute that these governors should be given the choice as to whether to accept the funds or not," Schumer says. "But it should not be multiple choice." He sent this letter to OMB Director Orszag today:
As you know, Section 1607(a) of the economic recovery legislation provides that the Governor of each state must certify a request for stimulus funds before any money can flow. No language in this provision, however, permits the governor to selectively adopt some components of the bill while rejecting others. To allow such picking and choosing would, in effect, empower the governors with a line-item veto authority that President Obama himself did not possess at the time he signed the legislation.Eh. I'm not sure this is a good idea. Trying to bully states into taking money that, for whatever reason, they've decided to reject does not seem a productive use of the administration's time. If Jindal wants to immiserate his voters in service of his presidential ambitions, then it's up to Louisianans to punish him. Chuck Schumer doesn't need to get involved.
