Was Gov. Riley late to the rejection buffet?

It appears Alabama's Governor was late to join the small chorus of fellow GOP Governors who say they will refuse part of the stimulus money. Some of them point to a provision to expand unemployment benefits. They're concerned that their state budgets will be left holding the bag a few years from now when the Federal cash stops. Last Wednesday FOX had a story identifying the governor's of Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alaska, South Carolina and Idaho as saying they would refuse some of the cash. As late as this morning, A story in Salon.com early today identified those same Governors...without Alabama's Governor Riley. Then Mary Orndorff of The Birmingham News reported that Riley "may" reject the unemployment cash...a toe in the water? (Or maybe nobody asked him about it before her?) Alabama has about the lowest unemployment benefits in the country, but the Governor says he wants to prevent the state from increasing taxes on businesses once the tap from Washington runs dry.

Of course the only way President Obama can make good on his pledge today to cut the budget deficit in half during his (first) term will be raise taxes on somebody to pay back all of the stimulus money we're borrowing from China and others. So perhaps to be consistent, Mr. Riley should oppose the entire package to prevent those future tax increases?

One way or the other, the Alabama Legislature can overrule Riley and accept the unemployment cash...and unlike Riley, many of them will have to consider the implication of that decision on their reelection plans.

[P.S. Look for another Scott Stantis/Birmingham News cartoon on the stimulus/tax issue tomorrow]

[UPDATE: Read Orndorff's story in Tuesday's Bham News...Riley will reject $66 Million of stimulus money. Rep Artur Davis says it is "a dispute over low-wage workers who have chosen part-time work because they are raising a family or in many cases, simply cannot find full-time work in a stagnant economy." ]

[UPDATE#2: This Morning's Montgomery Advertiser quotes Rep. Alvin Holmes: "It seems mighty strange to me that the only governors questioning the unemployment provision in the stimulus package are these Republican governors from these extremely conservative Southern states where the unemployment rate for blacks is triple that of the white unemployment rate," he said.]

[UPDATE#3: I missed it in the NY Times yesterday, but there was an editorial on the GOP Governors opposition to the unemployment provision. It makes some important points, including the fact that more than half the states have already made the changes to unemployment coverage that the Governor's are so concerned about.]