Remember That Whole Bailout Issue?

Well here it is, a headline from MSNBC:

MAYORS ASK FOR INFRASTRUCTURE MONEY

Unbelievable. Mayors from across America are now stepping up to the "handout machine," also known as the federal government, and begging for money. How much is enough? How much money do they think Americans have to give, as we'll have to foot the bill? Maybe we won't have to now, but my son will. And so will your children. Think of this past few months....hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars flowing out the federal government like some fountain of money, and guess what? That's a bad idea. Just look up those stories of Russians carrying wheelbarrows of cash to buy a loaf of bread or the German Weimar Republic. Do your homework, people! Just saying there's money available doesn't necessarily make it so. Here's a lovely quote from Miami Mayor Manny Diaz:

"We must invest in Main Street,” he said. “We're not here for a bailout; we're here to help out Americans.”

We're not here for a bailout.....just some free money. And the humble costs? A mere $73 billion. Well that's peanuts compared to AIG and Wall Street, so it's fine, right? At least the auto companies were humble enough to only beg for $34 billion. And look at this next bit from the article....this is classic:

Mayor Doug Palmer, of Trenton, N.J., added, "We don't need a bailout; we're talking about a build out."

A build out. That's cute. Let's come up with some new clever ways to rename the term 'bailout.' I have a message for these mayors, and the governors who begged to President-Elect Obama last week: try cutting your budgets and some costs first. Instead of putting a bunch of money into beautifying the local courthouse, try saving that money. Instead of building a statue to local hero dog "Champ," try using that money elsewhere. Instead of hiring 14 dozen Management Analysts that do the same job one could do, put a hiring freeze in place. Before getting in line to beg for a handout, (and yes Mayor Palmer.....it's a handout!) get your own house in order and stop begging the American people to take on even more of a burden because of your fiscal failures!!

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/12/08/1702660.aspx