...that it's just not even funny...
WASHINGTON — Texas Democratic lawmakers Thursday defended President Barack Obama's stimulus package against criticism from Republican leaders, saying Texas is making economic progress with the help of recovery funds.
Texas state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, said that without the $16.5 billion in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, steep cuts would have been made to the state's budget.
“We would have been in severe trouble if we had not had it,” Van de Putte told reporters in a Democratic National Committee-sponsored conference call.
Van de Putte said the stimulus money has led to the creation of about 69,000 transportation jobs, an $800 pay raise for public school teachers and accounts for $1.7 billion in other education funds.
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So what happens when that money is spent? Another stimulus? Austin pols jetting back to Washington for another handout? And about those 69,000 jobs...I'm sure Ms. Van de Putte will forgive those of us who are skeptical about that. I suppose Jim Dunnam has a point about the state having to borrow money to pay unemployment benefits, but that is just as much the fault of him and his fellow legislators as it is the governor, because the Legislature didn't even think about certain ways to raise funds for the budget -- because of the stimulus money. And those methods would have been, again, another one of those ongoing infusions of cash into the economy as opposed to a one-time thing. And Mr Dunnam says Perry's out of touch with reality? I wonder if he's familiar with the phenomenon of projection...
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