UPDATED: Palin's Stance on the Stimulus: Bush League Bloggers School the Pros One More Time

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Jim Geraghty at NRO's Campaign Spot tried to clarify Palin's position on the stimulus. He called her office and they referred him to her statement, which we bush league bloggers have been discussing for what seems like days now.

Geraghty concluded:

So she sees problems with it, but doesn't come out and say definitively that it ought to pass or ought not to pass. Guess we'll have to wait and see what comes out of the Senate.

Well, I don't think the way that Murkowski or Begich vote on the stimulus is necessarily a reflection of how Palin would vote if she were a senator. She's a governor, not a senator.

I think Palin is being held to a different standard than Jindal (no one really cares enough about Crist and Pawlenty to worry about how voters will react to their position on the stimulus). Jindal's approach to the stimulus seems similar to Palin's. However, Palin has made it clear that her administration is only requesting funds for five infrastructure projects that will benefit the nation -- four related to the natural gas pipeline and one related to national defense.

I have no idea if Jindal's projects will benefit the nation as a whole. If they are infrastructure projects, then I don't think they need to benefit us all. As I noted yesterday, every state has a right to their fair share of federal infrastructure money regardless of whether their projects benefit the people of Boise and Newport and Cleveland.

Our friend Promachus summarized the situation brilliantly yesterday:

It's very simple. There's regular state infrastructure funding and then there's this stimulus. Obama has packaged them together. Sarah wants to depackage them. She wants the infrastructure funding but she doesn't want the stimulus pork. It's as simple as that. Why can't people get it?

Bravo, Promachus! Exactly right. We don't understand why the "professionals" haven't figured this out yet. This is a fine example of why they need to get out of the beltway and spend some time on Wasilla Main Street.

Gov. Palin is interested in legitimate infrastructure projects, but she is warning against the social services aspect of the stimulus, which involves a dangerous growth of legacy programs that will eventually be mandated for the states to fund when the federal dollars dry up. It's a nightmare scenario for all who are concerned about the growth of government.

Gov. Palin's approach to the stimulus is pragmatic. She's putting Alaska first, but with the understanding that Alaska is part of the nation. She's not being as greedy for pork as some in her state want her to be because she understands that our nation as a whole will not benefit from running up deficits and debts.

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UPDATE by Ramrocks:

A reader noted that Alaska will receive more from the stimulus than the five projects Gov. Palin is requesting. That's correct.

The spending formulas built into the stimulus apply to every state regardless of what any governor does. Local officials can (and no doubt will) do an end-run around the Guv and appeal directly to the Alaska Congressional delegation for pet projects in their districts. This is all part of the earmarks battle that Palin has been fighting for some time now.

The ADN posted an interesting article on this a week ago:

In initial discussions about the stimulus package earlier this month, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin warned in a letter to Young and Alaska's senators, Lisa Murkowkski and Mark Begich, that she wouldn't back any earmarks. It echoed her anti-earmark stance on the campaign trail as the Republican vice presidential candidate.

"The use of formulas would help ensure fairness among states and would avoid the unhealthy practices and results that often occur in the Congressional earmarking process," she wrote.

Palin told the congressional delegation that it was her understanding any economic recovery bill wouldn't include earmarks and that she wanted to avoid asking for anything from Alaska that smacked of them.

That's true, Begich said, but as a former mayor, he began soliciting ideas from other local government leaders in Alaska even before he was sworn in as a U.S. senator. Begich said he wasn't offended by the governor's position.

"I think she's saying the same thing, I just don't think she wants to talk about earmarks, and that's OK," he said, adding that he wanted to have a list of ready-to-go projects so that Alaska would be positioned to benefit from the economic stimulus bill the minute it is signed into law by the president, assuming it is.

Palin asked the delegation to consider five projects: four highway projects connected to construction of a natural gas pipeline and a fifth involving improvements at the Kodiak rocket launch facility.

Other governors have been clashing with lawmakers from their own states over how to allocate money. In South Carolina, Republican Gov. Mark Sanford, a fiscal conservative who has warned of the burgeoning federal budget deficit, has said he's not interested in accepting federal money for the economic recovery.

Palin spokesman Bill McAllister said Palin wanted to emphasize stimulus projects in Alaska that have a national impact, such as road building associated with the proposed natural gas pipeline.

"We're just talking about the reality in Washington," he said. "We don't want people to get their hopes up."

Although Palin's posture on earmarks hasn't exactly put her at odds with the state's congressional delegation, it did make for slightly uncomfortable discussions with the three. All were getting solicited -- and unsolicited -- pitches from local governments in Alaska looking for money to help pay for specific projects.

The Municipality of Anchorage lists more than $400 million in potential projects on a stimulus wish list submitted to the U.S. Conference of Mayors -- everything from big road and port overhauls and expansions to lights on bike trails. A similar list from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough totaled $170 million. [emphasis added]

Palin is decoupling the infrastructure funding in the stimulus from the rest of it. The porkulus is much bigger than just infrastructure projects. Palin is worried about these other aspects. She noted in her recent press release, "Much of the stimulus plan we've seen focuses on spending for government programs that would be a burden on states to continue funding."

I believe Palin views the stimulus pragmatically. It's going to pass. We don't have enough votes to block it. It is loaded with crap, but it is also packaged with legitimate federal infrastructure dollars. Palin is interested in putting that funding to good and legitimate use. The rest of the porkulus is another matter altogether.

It should be noted that regardless of what they say, all the governors will be getting money from the porkulus -- even infrastructure dollars. The only difference is that Jindal and Palin (and others) are actively stating what projects they will use the money for.

Some governors like to play "tough guy" on fiscal matters to make a show. But they often end up relenting when reality sets in (like, say, the reality of the third highest unemployment rate in the country).

Let's all just keep an eye on the Stimulus Watch website in the coming days, months, and years. We'll see how Alaska ranks with the other states.