So everyone seems to be in a huff over the sheer audacity of Scott Walker to say that Milwaukee won't take any Federal Stimulus money.  First of all, as I've argued before, federal spending does not stimulate the economy.  It redirects money from the taxpayer to political whims, instead of to places in the economy where you and I deem them to work best.

One of the strangest arguments I'm hearing from those on the more liberal side of things is that we might as well take it, because everyone else is going to get some.  The problem with that is... well... the stimulus hasn't passed yet!  They've only just barely proposed a version in the House.  Scott Walker, by saying no to money that hasn't even been allocated yet, is simply saying... don't pass the bill at all!  If another other local leaders were to stand up and do the same thing, perhaps the message would get sent to Washington and the bill would never pass.

That idea sort of worked with the auto bailout.  Enough people from enough states said no, that Congress refused to pass the legislation.  If King George hasn't gone in and given out the money illegally anyway, then the car manufacturers would be properly filing for bankruptcy right now.

The stimulus is not inevitable, so let's not put the cart before the horse.  Instead of everyone worrying that we won't get our fair share of the money, let's decide whether the money should be spent anywhere... then we can worry about divvying it up.