Tennessee’s Democratic Governor Weighs Rejecting Stimulus Funds

Brad Haynes reports on politics. Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen says he’s still among the top candidates for a post in the Obama cabinet, but that hasn’t discouraged him from possibly rejecting some of the stimulus money that President Barack Obama is sending his way. Bredesen, who says he is “on a fairly short list” of candidates for health and human services secretary, told a Chattanooga paper that he is considering turning down federal funds for unemployment insurance included in the economic recovery package signed by the president last week. He would be the first Democrat to refuse part of the stimulus for states, joining Republican governors like South Carolina’s Mark Sanford and Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal , who is giving the GOP response to Obama’s economic address this evening. Bredesen is concerned that accepting $141 million for Tennessee’s unemployment insurance would force the state to expand the program and leave state taxpayers with the bill in two ... (link)