Gimme the money, but let’s not talk about it

Gimme the money, but let’s not talk about it

It’s a marvelous thing to hear all those representatives and senators from the red states — which is a polite way to say Southern states — rail against federal handouts and extol the virtues of good old-fashioned personal responsibility.

We don’t need the federal government, they all seem to be declaring. That is, until they want something from the federal government.

There have been a couple of glaring examples of this kind of hypocrisy — there’s no better word for it — recently.

One came from one of our favorite Southern gentlemen, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala. This is the same Richard Shelby who fought against the federal government coming to the aid of General Motors — he dismissed the company as a “dinosaur” — while he was more than happy to support the Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai and Honda plants in his state.

Shelby, who, of course, considers himself a great patriot and supporter of national defense, placed a hold on the confirmation of 70 nominees for federal office by President Barack Obama, including many destined for important positions in Homeland Security. And what issue was important enough to merit one senator’s throwing a monkey wrench in the nomination process? Shelby was trying to use a senatorial privilege to force the Obama administration to select Alabama to build new Air Force tankers and construct an FBI counterterrorism facility. But, of course, Shelby would tell you that he hates pork — as long as it’s on another state’s plate. Alabama pork is his favorite meal.

Once it became known what Shelby was doing, he buckled and dropped all but three of his holds. This kind of legislative blackmail — we’ve seen Democrats do it too, most notably Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Ben Nelson of Nebraska in the health-care bill negotiations — is despicable.

Losing the heat help

Less despicable, but just as glaring is this more recent Associated Press story. The cold snap in the Deep South is sucking federal emergency home-heating dollars away from traditional cold-weather states, causing heating aid to dry up faster than usual in many northern states.

Last month the Obama administration released $490 million in emergency heating funds, using a formula that took into account lower-than-normal temperatures and, for the first time, unemployment levels. Both factors favored the South, so Sun Belt states reaped the biggest gains.

We don’t begrudge people living in those predominantly red states help with their heating bills, anymore than we begrudge them federal aid when hurricanes devastate their coastlines.

We’re just suggesting it would be nice if states that regularly receive more dollars from Washington than they send would show a little gratitude and stop putting on airs about their ruggedly independent nature. And maybe support some more money for the northerners who need help from the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

But something tells us it will be a cold day in Phoenix before that happens.