For years, I’ve talked about that Federal “grants” are no such thing as they are PAYING other government and private sector entities for stuff that appear to be appealing but there are far more expensive costs associated. In our town, as I’ve written about many times, we have probably sent 3-10 times the amount to maintain the bandstand and the outdoor rink. Not to mention the length of what was dubbed “The Sidewalk to Nowhere” which started out as the one across from the high school across the length of the cemetery across the street. Then we had to buy equipment to shovel the snow off it.
But it started out as “Free Money for US!” (with no mention that OUR money goes to others as Free Money. And of course, the recent uproar of the Executive Council and NH Governor Chris Sununu about the million dollars COVID grants – where the real expense was the loss of our State Sovereignty Via Contract (“you agree to the terms that the Federal Government will tell you what you have to do in Public Health issues”).
Well, some folks in Texas learned the lesson that my town and my State of New Hampshire haven’t (reformatted, emphasis mine):
…Except that’s exactly what a small Texas town (among others) did when Uncle Sam offered town leaders more than a million dollars in COVID-19 relief money. The reason? The strings attached to the cash. But also, they say rejected it “on principle”:
“Today it’s about the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. But the big problem is it’s an executive order that could be who knows what, because that comes with the stroke of a pen,” said Hemphill.
Indeed. Sounds like they wargamed out what could happen rather than “hey, money!” if they agreed and signed on the dotted line. We have no idea, ANY of us, what other people will do once they have you in their grasps. And it seems others are getting the idea:
Sixty-seven other Texas towns followed suit. Among them was Mason, which has a population of 2,400 and turned down $570,000.
Sue Pledger, a Mason city commissioner, learned about the potential drawbacks of accepting stimulus money from Hemphill. “The federal government has no right to come in and audit us, has no right to our financial records,” she told Reason. “We haven’t entered a contract…We’re separate, and that’s the way we want to keep it here in Mason.”
That’s $237.50 per resident. No small sum of money in the aggregate. But, they turned it down. Good for them! And David Werner did a whole series on on losing Federalism by Contract – and those Texans saw through that easily. Unfortunately, our elected “Live Free Or Die” elected officials are still all about “SHOW ME THAT MONEY!”.
“We had very strong support in a very short time that we had made the right choice, based on what representing the citizens in this community meant. It meant giving back the funds, staying sovereign, keeping our independence, not giving the federal government a foot in our finances, or over what we do with our contracts.”
Sigh. If only our Governor and Executive Council member had such Principles and such spines – and the courage to simply say “No”.
(H/T: For Liberty)
