m.dailykos/ Red States Discover The Pain of Paying Their Own Way by Heavy Mettle Oct 12, 2013 11:34am PDT Yes, yes the Federal government is a horrible intrusion into all our lives and if only it could keep its nose out of the states business! Right? Everyone knows that national monuments are just there - right? The Federal government doesnt actually do anything to operate them, right? Well many of these states that depend on tourism dollars from national monuments discovered in no time flat how much they count on the Federal government to subsidize them. And were forced to admit it. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Obama administration’s willingness to reopen national parks shuttered by the government shutdown came with a big caveat: States must foot the bill with money they likely won’t see again. So far, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Arizona and New York have jumped at the deal. Governors in other states were trying to gauge Friday what would be the bigger economic hit — paying to keep the parks operating or losing the tourist money that flows when the scenic attractions are open. South Dakota and several corporate donors worked out a deal with the National Park Service to reopen Mount Rushmore beginning Monday. Gov. Dennis Daugaard said it will cost $15,200 a day to pay the federal government to run the landmark in the Black Hills. Well isnt that exactly what conservatives want - private donations to keep unessential things like monuments functioning? Just like were supposed to rely on charity for our healthcare? Arizona officials said a deal reached Friday will mean visitors should be able to return to Grand Canyon National Park on Saturday. In Utah, federal workers rushed to reopen five national parks for 10 days after the state sent $1.67 million to the U.S. government with the hope of saving its lucrative tourist season. Just over 400 national parks, recreation areas and monuments — including such icons as the Grand Canyon and Yosemite — have been closed since Oct. 1 because of the partial government shutdown. Officials in some states were not happy about paying to have the parks reopened. Well of course not! Its the Federal Governments job to pick up the tab for running these places, we are just supposed to reap the benefits of the money that pours in from the tourism! Of course Arizonas Jan Brewer is at the head of the line to feed at the trough: In Arizona, Republican Gov. Jan Brewer balked at spending about $112,000 a day for a full reopening of the Grand Canyon. She said a partial reopening would be much cheaper while allowing tourists to visit and businesses to benefit. “The daily cost difference is enormous, especially without assurances that Arizona will be reimbursed,” said Andrew Wilder, a spokesman for Brewer. In the end, Arizona agreed to pay the Park Service $651,000 to keep the Grand Canyon open for seven days. The $93,000 a day is less than the $112,000 the federal government had said was needed to fund park operations each day. Missouris governor is working on a proposal to reopen its national monuments including the Gateway Arch. Nevada and Washington will not. Wyoming has said it cant afford to bail out the federal government. “Wyoming cannot bail out the federal government and we cannot use state money to do the work of the federal government,” Mead spokesman Renny MacKay said. Good one. Nice to know that the parasitic federal government is actually expected to do something. While blue states are also ponying up to keep their monuments and attractions open, it is well known that red states take more money from the federal government than they put in while the reverse is true of blue states. So its a bit of an irony that they scream the loudest about intrusion from the nanny state and another bit of schadenfreude when they learn just how much they count on it.
Posted on: Mon, 14 Oct 2013 23:28:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015