Shouldn't Congress be at least knowledgeable before voting on an issue?

February 8, 9:19 PMProgressive Politics ExaminerJay McDonough

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Of all the wrongheaded, shortsighted things done in the course of the debate on the economic stimulus bill (and that's a pretty long list), cutting aid to the states is easily in the top three.  The so called compromise Senate deal includes a $40B cut in terms of aid to the beleagured states, despite a near consensus among economists that would be money well spent indeed.

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) appeared on Meet the Press this morning and pooh poohed concerns about the states plight:

Now, I'm obviously not a senator from Nevada.  I don't even live in Nevada.  But a quick Google search yielded the following headlines:

(Reno) Mayor Hopes to Avoid Layoffs  (1/22/09)

The mayor's speech was followed by public questions. One person wanted to know if the police and fire departments would be spared from the budget ax. Cashell said he hoped that would be the case, but said many departments will suffer.

CLARK COUNTY: Talk turns to layoffs, pay cuts (11/21/08)

Collins acknowledged that the economy was bad, but he argued that public safety should be the top priority. The county must eliminate all unnecessary spending before cutting the police budget in ways that compromise the public's safety, Collins said.

Revisiting public workers’ pay (11/22/08)

Clark County officials, led by Commission Chairman Rory Reid, met with leaders of the Service Employees International Union and the police and fire unions Thursday to deliver the grim news. Expenses are outpacing revenues, Reid said. Thus, current labor costs are simply unsustainable, he said.

Sen. Ensign seems not to understand what's going on in his own state, let alone the rest of the country.  The threat of teacher, police and firefighter layoffs is not "fear mongering" but, in fact, very real and spread across the United States.  According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 46 of the 50 states are running deficits and the combined budget gaps for this year, 2010 and 2011 total more than $350B.  States are required to run balanced budgets.  Not having the option of controlling monetary policy, states are forced to cutback during recessions.  And, invariably, those cutbacks come from state government services and layoffs of state employees such as teachers, police and firefighters.

Senator Ensign is one of 100 senators voting on the very, very important stimulus bill.  Comforting, huh?