Around the time I was writing yesterday’s post about Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s rejection of 90-odd-million dollars of stimulus money, the Governor of Montana had the same idea I did.

Governor Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat, said of Jindal:

Simply what I have said is that if you don’t like these federal dollars, what about the other 95% of the federal dollars you’ve already received? If you reject 98 million dollars for unemployment, why did you receive the 10 billion dollars for all the rest of the programs that came from the federal government?

And that’s not the only conflict! Governor Mark Sanford (R, S.C.) has followed Jindal’s lead and refused a portion of his state aid money. For this, he has come under fire from fellow Republican governor Arnold Fucking Schwarzenegger:

Governor Sanford says that he does not want to take the money, the federal stimulus package money. And I want to say to him: ‘I’ll take it.’ I’m more than happy to take his money or any other governor in this country that doesn’t want to take this money, I take it, because we in California need it.

Way to go, Sanford. You’ve got a cyborg on your ass. Happy now? Or would you prefer it if he got on a motorcycle and chased you around in-character? Because I’m sure it can be arranged.

So anyway, what do we think? Is Schwarzenegger a lone, unlikely voice of reason, or is this just the beginning of a Golden Age of GOP Infighting? Either way, you can’t honestly say you saw this coming a few years ago.

The Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a.k.a. The Bailout, is moving forward, and people are cautious but hopeful. It may not have been the exact plan Obama envisioned, but it’s a hell of a lot better than what we had before. The money is going just about everywhere, including a whole host of provisions to help unemployed workers, including an extended Emergency Unemployment Compensation program. Americans who have been smacked around by the economy finally have a reason to feel slightly happier.

Except in Louisiana, where Governor Bobby Jindal has refused federal aid for the unemployed. Accepting the money for the updated programs would require a change to Louisiana state law, which Jindal is unwilling to make that change out of fear that it could eventually result in a tax increase. Meanwhile, around 25,000 people in Louisiana won’t be getting the benefits they could’ve had in any other state.

When I first heard about this story, I was sure I had Jindal’s motive all figured out: he rejected the money so he could take a stand against “socialism” or “big government” (or whatever Republican leaders think Obama’s nefarious scheme is), and then brag about it during a hypothetical run for the Presidency in 2012. “That sneaky bastard!” I said. “Screwing over 25,000 people to score a few points in a contest that hasn’t even started yet!” Turns out the truth is far dumber.

Jindal has been more than happy to take stimulus money for other things. He’s even been happy to take it for unemployment; if you already qualify for unemployment insurance in Louisiana, you’ll be getting bigger payments. All told, he’s only turning down about $90 million of the money his state was set to receive. His anti-bailout posturing is purely symbolic — he gets to pretend he was the bold rebel who snubbed Obama, but his state still gets most of its money.

Of course, symbolic or not, the gesture still has its consequences. Those 25,000 people are still unemployed, and probably none too happy about it. I guess Jindal thinks he can impress them by claiming he kept their taxes low. Which is true, as long as we’re talking about a crazy alternate universe where those people all start businesses and become wildly successful, and also the emergency programs never get phased out despite their apparent success in ending the emergency.

Or, in the words of New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin:

Nagin went on to note that even without Jindal’s approval, state officials will likely go around him to secure federal aid. “[Representative James] Clyburn did something very smart. He said if the government does not want this money, the legislators can vote to accept the money. And I told the governor personally, any dollars he does not want, we will take them.”

And that’s the fiendish plot, in a nutshell. Bobby Jindal gets to claim he fought Washington on this issue, but still gets to take credit for his state’s economic recovery. In fact, I’m going to predict, right now, that this very issue is going to come up in the next round of Republican Presidential primaries.

I’m also going to predict that I will become depressed later tonight, because I’m talking about the 2012 primaries in February of 2009, which is too goddamn early.