Turner and Schmidt want rejected stimulus money to pay down debt

Earlier this year, Congressman Mike Turner (R-OH) was the only Republican co-sponsor of a bill Congressman John Boehner called "worst idea in the world": H.R.1106, the mortgage cram down bill.

This week, Boehner thinks Turner is a hero.

Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) today applauded Reps. Jean Schmidt and Michael Turner for announcing they will introduce legislation to allow Warren County (OH) to return rejected federal “stimulus” dollars to the U.S. Treasury to pay down the national debt.

“Local leaders in Warren County, Liberty Township and other communities are standing up for our children and grandchildren by taking a principled stand against Washington’s insistence on spending money we simply do not have,” Boehner said. “The funds Warren County has declined should be returned to the federal Treasury to reduce the national debt, and I commend Jean Schmidt and Mike Turner for their leadership in writing legislation to help ensure this happens. I hope House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will allow the bill to come to a vote immediately once it is introduced."

The money Warren County Commissioners rejected was $373,000 that had been intended for the purchase of three shuttle vans. The Commissioners claims the old fleet is perfectly adequate for the needs of county residents.

While The Middletown Journal claims that the county "did not apply for the money", an article which appeared hours later in The Dayton Daily News claims otherwise:

The commissioners deemed the money unnecessary after it was first requested in a “wish list” by county staff.

Warren County Commissioner C. Michael Kilburn had this to say about the stimulus money:

I’ll let Warren County go broke before taking any of (President Barack) Obama’s filthy money.

So the fleet of vans may not be in quite the pristine shape that the Commissioners claimed when rejecting the money. This appears to be more of a political move much akin to Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal suggesting that Louisiana might reject stimulus money even though the state faces a $2 billion budget shortfall.

But Kilburn had more to say. Oh yes.

Commissioner Kilburn said he is “tired of worrying about people who don’t have.”

It's nice to know that the people in government are tired of dealing with all the darn poor folks. Granted, Kilburn is only one of three commissioners, but when one third of the commission walks this way, that is scary.

The Middletown Journal article had a great comment by one "Savanation":





The Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq was passed on October 11, 2002. Congressman Turner didn't take office until 2003. While he didn't vote to authorize the war, he has supported it since taking office.

He voted in support of The Global War on Terror.

He voted against Mandatory Troop Rest Periods Between Deployments to Iraq.

He also voted against Iraq Related Provisions such as a Troop Withdrawal, a Permanent Base Ban, and Limiting Interrogation Techniques.

I agree with Savanation that money would be better spent on helping people that in fueling the military machine. I completely agree with that.

And unlike Commissioner Kilburn, I do worry about "people who don’t have".