Obama Can't Play Baseball- But He Can Play Hardball

Although Barack Obama throws a baseball like a girl (video here), he plays hardball with the best of them, using tactics he learned from his years in inner city Chicago. Via Hot Air Blog there is a story about how Arizona Senator Jon Kyl suggested that not only should Congress refuse to consider a second stimulus package, they should bring the current spending to a halt before it wastes even more money. Rather than make a reasoned argument for their stimulus package, however, the White House threatened to choke Arizona’s federal funds in retaliation.

A day (after Kyl's suggestion), Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer received letters from Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar all pointing out the billions headed to Arizona.

Kyl “publicly questioned whether the stimulus is working and stated that he wants to cancel projects that aren’t presently underway,” LaHood wrote to Brewer. “I believe the stimulus has been very effective in creating job opportunities throughout the country. However, if you prefer to forfeit the money we are making available to your state, as Senator Kyl suggests, please let me know.”

As Hot Air Blog comments on, Democrats use their usual faulty logic in making this threat. Arizona will eventually get $520 million in infrastructure spending of the $48 billion in the bill- a quick calculation shows that as somewhat less than 1/50th (or 1/57th) of the funds, meaning Arizonans won’t get the same share as other states. That probably isn't because Arizona has two Republican Senators, a Republican Governor, and usually has electoral votes go Republican- Democrats aren't that petty (that's sarcasm, by the way- taxpayer money is going primarily to Democratic states from Republican ones)

Hot Air Blog also adds this:

Also, I’m not sure if anyone at the White House realizes this quite yet, but all of that money comes from Arizona in the first place — and taxpayers all over the nation. They’re not promising some vast new wealth; they’re promising to return our money back to ourselves, with a hefty chunk of it removed to pay for the bureaucrats that manage it.

This is hardball, played Chicago way- take someone's money and then blackmail them with it. Democrats at their finest.