On Sep 7, 2011, at 11:08 PM, Marv Gandall wrote:
> 2. Does the fiscal union impose spending discipline on the poorer states? Do federal transfers come with strings attached, i.e. federal control over state spending?
Yes, to some degree. The Republicans want to turn a lot of federal aid to state and local gov into block grants to allow states more "flexibility." Flexibility is almost always a cover for screwing the nonprivileged.
The stimpak provided a lot of aid to state & local governments, reversing a declining trend. Back when Nixon bumped up federal aid, it constituted almost a quarter of state & local revenue. In 2007 that had fallen below a fifth. The stimpak brought that back up to a quarter, though that's now dwindling.
Doug