California Conservative

This LA Times article says that the Obama administration isn’t thinking about bailing California out…yet. Earlier this morning, Rasmussen reported that 24 percent of American supported a bailout. This begs the question of whether the Obama based its decision on polling.

California needs to solve its financial crisis by itself and should not expect an emergency bailout from the White House, an array of Obama administration officials said Thursday, making clear they had no appetite to step in and provide financial assistance or loan guarantees.

“Look, we’re going to examine what we can do. What we need to do, however, is to treat states fairly and that means uniformly,” David Axelrod, senior advisor to the president, said in an interview. “Whatever we do for one state, there will be other states who also will want to do that. And there’s a limit to what the government can do.”

Hearing the Obama administration say that “there’s a limit to what the government can do” is a little bizarre. Hearing this administration say that is akin to hearing Ronald Reagan say that America is too prosperous and too free.

Here’s what Raasmussen’s polling reported:

Twenty-four percent (24%) of voters nationwide favor federal bailout funds for states like California that are encountering “serious financial problems.” The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 59% are opposed to such bailouts.

As for California specifically, again just 24% believe the federal government should guarantee the state’s loans. Sixty-six percent (66%) of voters nationwide oppose federal guarantees. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has said the state may request such guarantees.

I’m actually surprised that there’s that much support for bailing California out. I wouldn’t have been surprised if only 10 percent of the people polled supported bailouts.

I’m hard pressed to believe that the Obama administration’s decision wasn’t linked to their polling. The Obama administration hasn’t hesitated to bail others out. I’m thinking that the Obama administration didn’t want to upset California’s voters after they sent a shot across California’s politicians’ bow.

Technorati Tags: Bailouts, California, Schwarzenegger, RINO, Polling, President Obama, Deficits, Spending, Tea Parties, Elections

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog