A friend in need is a friend indeed

Hey, Mr. Conservative!

You say you've said something really stupid, climbed way out on a limb that's gonna crack any minute, alienated even some of your strongest allies, are catching hell from all sides, and can't imagine what to do about it except try to peel back your indefensible position a little at a time?

Is that what's troubling you?

Well, not to worry, Buster. You've got a friend.

Her name is Jessica McBride (Surprise!), and she sees nothing wrong with Scott Walker's statement that his county is not interest in any of that stinking federal stimulus money.

Says McBride:

(Walker) isn’t seeking a federal bailout (wouldn’t it be good if other "CEOs" were saying that?). He recognizes that the federal money President-elect Obama wants to shovel to states (and counties) for infrastructure and other projects isn’t "free money;" it’s borrowed money that taxpayers will have to pay for. The Milwaukee County Executive also notes that most federal grants, especially for transportation, require local spending matches.

Two Republican governors question the stimulus package (which she insists on calling a bailout), McBride says in Walker's defense. What's more:

Walker also told the media he’d consider on a "case-by-case" basis whether to accept any of the federal money. That nuance must not make a sexy newspaper headline.

Actually, he didn't say that initially, when he spouted off and set off the whole controversy. That came only as part of his back-pedaling, after even folks like Tim Sheehy of the Milwaukee business lobby more or less said Walker was full of shit himself.

McBride seems to have missed the fact that there will be a federal stimulus package, a big one, whether Walker supports it or not. And Milwaukee County taxpayers will pay their share of it, over time, whether Milwaukee County gets any of the money or not. This is not rocket science. Walker went to college longer than I did before dropping out, so he must have at least had Econ 101.

I called him Herbert Hoover Walker in a recent post, but McBride claims Hoover was really a big deficit spender. Actually, although he did take some action to try to stave off the coming Depression, here's how a historical reference site describes what Hoover did next:

As the Depression became worse, however, calls grew for more radical measures involving increased Federal intervention and spending. But Hoover refused, adhering strongly to his principles.

What makes that amusing is that Walker's reason for his action, and his defense for his irrationality, is that he's sticking to his principles.

Herbert Hoover, move over.

One more thought: When is McBride going to start the campaign to get her friend Dan Vrakas, the Waukesha County exec, to follow Walker's principled lead? McBride's home county certainly needs a stimulus a lot less than Milwaukee County does.