Stimulus Working, Saving State Budgets

I keep telling you the stimulus is working. But if you won't believe a Lake Herman Democrat, how about a Vermont Republican:

The federal government has provided states with invaluable assistance.... The stimulus helped stabilize the economy and minimize job losses [Vermont Governor Jim Douglas].

... or a Florida Republican:

It was the right thing to do. We needed the money. And it saved 87,000 jobs in my state,” Crist said. “I was raised to respect the presidency of the United States and the man who occupies the office. Now I don’t agree with him on everything. By golly if we agree on something and that means helping the people in the state that I was elected to govern, then I’m going to be there. I’m going to thank him [Florida Governor Charlie Crist].

...or a California Republican:

Anyone that says it hasn't created a job, they should talk to the 150,000 people that have been getting jobs in California [California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; all quoted in Stephen C. Fehr, "Spinning the Stimulus," Stateline.org, 2010.02.26].

There's more work to be done. One in twenty South Dakotans who want to work need jobs, and no one in or out of Pierre has offered a plan as to how we're going to balance our state budget under the next governor. But even Republican governors understand that President Obama's year-old stimulus package has put lots of people to work who otherwise would be breaking our unemployment insurance and other social services. They also understand that federal assistance has staved off fiscal catastrophe in South Dakota and most other states.