Louisiana’s Gov. Bobby Jindal, who gave last night’s Republican response to President Barack Obama’s address to Congress, makes a lot of sense in refusing to accept portions of the recently passed federal “stimulus” plan. He and a half dozen other Republican governors are right to object to a scheme that would require them to pay far more money over the long term, while taxing employers to do it, in order to grab a short-term windfall. Note that Jindal isn’t rejecting all the stimulus money earmarked for Louisiana, but only $32.8 million for expanding unemployment insurance. It’s worth quoting Jindal’s reasoning at length:

“It would be like spending $1 to get a dime. Why would we take temporary federal dollars if we’re going to end up having a permanent program? …. So many of these things that are called temporary programs end up being permanent government programs. But this one’s crystal clear, black and white, letter [of the] law. The federal stimulus bill says it has to be a permanent change in state law if you take this…. And so within three years, the federal money’s gone, we’ve got now a permanent change in our laws, we have to pay for it, our businesses pay for it.  I don’t think it makes sense to be raising taxes on Louisiana businesses during these economically challenging times.”