Symptom of the Disease: Journalist thinks Connecticut governor must “win” money for state

Yes, I understand the current political climate requires town finance managers to beg for money from the state, and state leaders must beg for money from the federal government, but can we agree this is a problem? Actually, it’s incrementally grown from a small issue to what any well-informed TEA Party member would refer to as the problem.

The issue with federal grant money is that someone, somewhere, always feels left out or screwed. Take for example, Rick Green’s statement in the Hartford Courant concerning a $100 million competitive grant delivered to Ohio State University instead of the University of Connecticut’s John Dempsey Hospital in Farmington. My emphasis in bold.

Add this to the loss of both federal Race to the Top and high-speed railroad money, and it’s clear that Gov.-Elect Dan Malloy must do a better job at winning Washington cash for the state.

Green feels Connecticut was screwed, mentioning the establishment of the grant was written by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) – actually tailored by Dodd – exclusively in UConn’s favor. I’ll go out on a limb and suggest Green really thinks Connecticut deserves the $100 million more than Ohio does, and I bet I could find a writer or two in Ohio who thinks their university system deserved the cash. Another symptom of the disease.

That’s the problem with earmarks, federal grants or any other type of federal funding that does not support the general national welfare. Someone, somewhere, will always feel screwed.

This again leads us to Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution, which has been completely disregarded by Congress – supported by Supreme Court inaction – for more than six decades. Maybe one of the tests Congress should require prior to spending millions or billions on projects like this would be to ask if someone, somewhere, feels they got the shaft and lost out? Did someone else “win?”

All federal funding and spending should be in support of the national general welfare. Programs and projects must support every state in the union, or at least a wide region of the country. My position comes with the understanding that if a state’s population wants a local program or project to move forward – like improving John Dempsey Hospital, buying a new fire truck, or installation of new street signs – residents must be willing to come up with the funding on their own.

Smaller federal government and lower federal taxes comes with a cost, higher taxes at the local and state level to support projects state residents want to fund. I’m fine with that, and I think TEA Party members would be cool with that as well, with the clear understanding the federal government would be a much smaller shell of its previous self.

Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

7 Comments

  1. brianh on December 30, 2010 at 6:54 am

    Yes, this practice is THE problem! It's nice to see that CT/Dodd got screwed, given he snuck this into the health care bill. Too bad it gets spent at all, though!



  2. PatRiot on December 30, 2010 at 7:32 am

    Amen Steve !!! Spot on.

    If Malloy has any sense, he will tell the hospital that the State's $200+ million offer is to be withdrawn.  Then he can at least say he has cut the budget. 

    Get a little of that Chris Christie THANG going here. – "We really just don't have the money."

    If enough Governor's admit to the addiction of spending and actually take rehabilitation actions like this, we can probably fix this fairly quickly. 



  3. Plainvillian on December 30, 2010 at 7:42 am

    The money went to Ohio, where the 2012 electoral votes are in question while Corrupticut will dependably vote for any Democrat nominated.  Ah, the post-partisan world of hope and change.  Maybe Mr.Blumenthal can sue somebody, … anybody, ……. everybody.



  4. sammy22 on December 30, 2010 at 11:22 am

    But, I BET that nobody posting on this blog "will be willing to come up with the funding on their own" no matter what the issue is (and you can pay for my "share" of the Defense budget, if you wish).



  5. Steve M on December 30, 2010 at 12:15 pm

    What sammy22 is trying to say is that he's perfectly happy with politicians going to Washington with the primary goal of stealing money from the residents of other states. If we pay $1, we demand more than $1 back. That's common theft and a huge culture problem.

    He's also clearly stating national defense – which really is part of the federal government's obligation per the Constitution – should not be funded at all.

    Genius.



  6. Lynn on December 31, 2010 at 2:01 am

    Sammy22, I'm just curious, have you ever read the Constitution?



  7. sammy22 on December 31, 2010 at 6:13 am

    Yep, I read the Constitution. And, as usual, dodging the question and delivering a dig. The Dept. Of Defense budget is funded way beyond "national defense" needs. And I think fighting the "current wars" is doing it w/o a declaration of war. It's always great to be able to cherry-pick the Constitution to advance one's own agenda. Genius.



frontpg-cash-pile

The website's content and articles were migrated to a new framework in October 2023. You may see [shortcodes in brackets] that do not make any sense. Please ignore that stuff. We may fix it at some point, but we do not have the time now.

You'll also note comments migrated over may have misplaced question marks and missing spaces. All comments were migrated, but trackbacks may not show.

The site is not broken.