When I read this yesterday I wasn’t surprised.

Gov. Rick Perry today told the federal government that Texas doesn’t want $555 million to expand benefits for the unemployed in exchange for widening the program to include part-time workers.

The Legislature can decide to accept the money, but Perry said the state has repeatedly rejected the idea of paying unemployment to part-time workers.

The Legislature is controlled by Perry’s fellow Republicans.

The money would go instead to other states, according to federal officials. But Perry told reporters in Houston today that this did not mean that tax payments by Texans would leave the state.

Ever since he threatened this a couple of weeks ago, Governor Perry has been second guessed by the national press. The thing the national press forgets is that Texas has a history of Governors who turn down federal money that would help “poor”, mostly democratic voters. If you didn’t know better (or at least think you did) you might think it was a class warfare type of action. A decade ago it was George W. turning down CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) money from the federal government.

After watching Texas politics for thirty years as a voter, nothing they can say or do is surprising anymore. It’s really a sad state of affairs when you have to go back a half century to find a Texas politician on the national stage you can be proud of…And further still to find one who served a lifetime and retire with less money than when he went in.

via Perry says no to $555 million in federal stimulus money | Front page | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.

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