States send Dollars to Dee Cee and gets pennies back in return.
Via Watchdog
The upcoming U.S. Senate GOP primary in Mississippi centers largely on whether voters want more federal money or, conversely, less government involvement.
The Republican Senate primary June 24 pits incumbent U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran and state Sen. Chris McDaniel.
The winner faces Democrat and former U.S. congressman Travis Childers in November.
As the saying goes, the federal aid for Mississippi isn’t chicken feed.
State Budget Solutions reports that from 2002-12 the state received 45.7 percent of its budget in federal money, the highest percentage for any state. Of the state’s K-12 education budget of $3.2 billion, $800 million came from federal money, and state universities and community colleges got $400 million.
Cochran’s campaign isn’t bashful about extolling its ability to “bring home the bacon,” including farm subsidies ($8.16 billion from 1995-2012), education, $29 billion for Hurricane Katrina relief and support for the area’s military bases, shipbuilding and aviation industries in the form of defense contracts.
Cochran is powerfully poised to help as the senior member on the Senate Committee on Appropriations and is vice chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.
“Senator Cochran believes in a balanced budget, sponsored the balanced budget amendment to the Constitution and believes we need to live within our means,” said Cochran’s spokesman Jordan Russell said. “He’s a fiscal conservative and always has been. But that doesn’t mean you can’t advocate for Mississippi’s interests and support worthy projects such as infrastructure and education.”
McDaniel has been sharply critical of the growth in federal spending during Cochran’s 36 years in office.
“There’s a clear and distinct division in the party right now,” McDaniel spokesman Noel Fritsch said. “You’ve got the conservative wing that thinks the way to prosperity is to take away the market distortions. We feel the inflow of federal dollars limits the infusion of capital since people tend to sit on the sidelines waiting for the federal money.”