Stimulus is no Cure-All for Rhode Island

As I mentioned last week, the WSJ wrote an editorial about the ever-growing "economic stimulus" package. As they put it then:

This is a political wonder that manages to spend money on just about every pent-up Democratic proposal of the last 40 years....this bill was written based on the wish list of every living -- or dead -- Democratic interest group.

Here in Rhode Island, Governor Carcieri is trying to explain (in a radio ad) that the Ocean State's portion of the package will do nothing to solve the long-term problems that got us into these straits.

With a federal bailout on its way, some may think Rhode Island’s budget crisis will soon be over. But don’t be fooled by those who would ignore the real issues, and simply patch the budget with this newfound money. Such sudden windfalls may solve our immediate budget problem, but in the long run they will only make things worse.

North Providence Mayor Charles Lombardi welcomes the relief--a "shot in the arm"--but agrees with the Governor and recognizes that it's not a cure-all. For their part, the ProJo sought out the always-present NEA official for his (original?) comments:

This was the response from Patrick Crowley, assistant executive director of National Education Association Rhode Island, after hearing the Carcieri radio spot: “The governor’s so-called recovery plan was nothing more than a conservative wish list of proposals having very little to do with the economic plight of working Rhode Islanders. What the people of Rhode Island need today is leadership, not finger pointing or campaign attack ads. “But more importantly, the people of Rhode Island need good-paying jobs and the stimulus package from the federal government is just the shot in the arm our state economy needs,” he said.

Must be running close to the end of the playbook and running out of "original" material. Meanwhile, I found this graphic, well, illustrative!