It's official...Bobby Jindal is sticking to his principles and refusing federal money from the "porkulous" stimulus package. His principles have forbidden him from accepting a whopping two percent of federal funds intended for Louisiana, and also preventing 25,000 LA families from receiving unemployment benefits.
Hopefully this will get him the street cred he so desires among the Neo-Hooverites, and also will pave the way for a Palin-esque "Thanks, but no thanks" sound bite when he runs for President in 2012.
Please ignore the fact that his reasoning for rejecting the bill is entirely false. As the expansion in unemployment benefits is covered by the federal government for three years, Louisiana would simply need to establish a sunset clause for the alteration in the law, and unemployment insurance would remain unaffected for business owners. But hey, he's a member of the GOP. Anything goes.
UPDATE: Yglesias notes another reason why Jindal might be refusing the money:
If Louisiana makes its unemployment benefits less generous than what’s available in other states, then maybe unemployed citizens will leave Louisiana for Texas and other neighboring states, thus creating an artificial appearance of an improved economic situation. It would be the equivalent of Mike Bloomberg fighting poverty by demolishing all the low-income housing in New York and hoping the poor people all move elsewhere.
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