As I predicted yesterday, Scott Walker is catching serious flak for saying no to stimulus pork.

He responds with this email:

How many people would take a gift of $1,000 and go out and buy a $60,000 sports car? While the gift is nice, it will not make the monthly car payments that are too large for the average budget. The same is true with the (so-called) stimulus package. 

Federal money nearly always comes with strings attached. In fact, most federal transportation grants require a 20% (or greater) local match. “Free money” sounds nice but what happens when state and local governments cannot afford the match? If Milwaukee County receives $50 million for infrastructure projects under this formula, taxpayers in the county would have to come up with an extra $10 million. Does anyone think we have an extra $10 million in this budget climate? 

A real economic stimulus will put money in the hands of consumers – and not the government. Tax cuts work. They did for Ronald Reagan in the 1980s and they are exactly what John F. Kennedy called for in the 1960s. Each time, our nation got out of a recession by putting more money back into the hands of the taxpayers. The choice is simple: do we bail out failed governments with budget deficits or do we stimulate the economy and put more people back to work with real tax cuts at the federal, state and local levels? I choose the program that truly puts people back to work!

 Scott