Nobody Puts Palin In The Corner

You didn't think Sarah Palin would let Mark Sanford and Rick Perry have all the fun, did you?

Following the lead of the other 2012 GOP presidential contenders, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) announced today that she would reject nearly half the $930 million Alaska was set to receive from the economic stimulus package. Like Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC), Palin is set to further cripple the state’s education system:

The biggest single chunk of stimulus money that Palin is turning down is $160 million for education. There’s also $17 million in Department of Labor funds (vocational rehabilitation services, unemployment services, etc.), about $9 million for Health and Social Services and about $7 million for Public Safety.

Nobody is going to out-stupid Sarah Palin. Do you hear? NO ONE!

At least when all the wingnuts go Galt, they'll have a big empty state with no economic activity to hang out in.

It goes without saying that rejecting free money in an economic downturn is about the silliest thing you can possibly do. And it's not based on some great principle on Palin's part; she's taking $514 million, after all, and in the past has received ridiculous amounts of largesse from the taxpayer.

You know, if the money goes back into the pie, and can get out to the states that desire it, this might not turn out so bad. You can envision it as sort of a redistribution of federal money from the recipient states who typically get more back for their tax dollars (largely red states, incidentally) to the donor states, like California. You can't force these grandstanders to help themselves, so, you know, good luck.

I eagerly await to see how Greta Van Susteren's Scientologist husband spins this one.