My way or the highway

President Obama intends to blackmail states into becoming completely beholden to and dependent on the federal government:

President Barack Obama singled out Texas on Friday as a state that could lose out under the newly enacted $797 billion economic stimulus package because Gov. Rick Perry hasn’t totally ruled out rejecting some funds.

Speaking to a gathering of about 80 of the nation’s mayors at a White House meeting, Obama specifically mentioned Houston’s need for transit dollars but said Texas could lose money if Perry does not apply for all the federal aid for which the state is eligible.

The president spelled out not only that he wants the money spent, he wants it spent in such a way he doesn’t consider wasteful.

Invoking his own name-and-shame policy, Obama warned the mayors that he will “call them out” if they waste the money from the stimulus plan.

“The American people are watching,” Obama said. “They need this plan to work. They expect to see the money that they’ve earned — they’ve worked so hard to earn — spent in its intended purposes without waste, without inefficiency, without fraud.”

Perry, a Republican, wrote to Obama on Wednesday to accept the funds but said he may not use money for all of the offered programs. Perry is a vocal critic of the stimulus plan and has made it clear that he considers it a massive burden to taxpayers that won’t fix the economy.

His staff reaffirmed Friday that the governor still may reject any funds that come with requirements for Texas to expand programs in ways that would require higher state outlays once the federal funds run out.

You can read more about Perry’s principled stand here.