On February 16th, 2009 Monica Davey of the New York Times wrote the article “States and Cities in Scramble for Stimulus Cash”. Other contributors to this article were Robbie Brown, Michael Cooper, David M. Herszenhorn and Robert Pear.
The purpose of the article was to show Americans how many states are receiving money and how the money from the stimulus bill will be used in their states either for major infrastructure projects, education, or Medicaid. In Missouri, most of the money they receive, about $510 million, will go towards 34 transportation projects and in the process will create 14,000 jobs. Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina thinks the stimulus bill is a bad idea and he says he doesn’t even want it. Rhode Island might lose out when it comes to alternative energy because it had fewer resources already dedicated to areas like wind power. Arkansas and North Carolina don’t have education issues, but are concerned that they might receive less money than other states. Minnesota was going to revise its budget to reduce the number of residents eligible for state health care programs as a way to close a deficit. But under the stimulus plan, if cuts were already made, they could jeopardize anyone eligible for Medicaid because the bill penalizes states that change their policy to save money.
In conclusion, the argument being referenced is that every state has a different reason for using the money in which they receive from the package. But every state seems to be more worried about how much the other state receives. That shouldn’t matter. If a state needs more money because it needs more help in revising itself so be it. But if a state doesn’t need a large amount of money then they shouldn’t receive it. Also, I don’t understand why the governors don’t want the money. How are they going to create jobs? How are they going to rebuild aging infrastructure? How are they going to create more efficient energy sources because coal and oil sources are basically going out the door? It seems that the governors that don’t want the money want to go back to the horse and buggy while other governors want to move forward into the future.
