With arms wide open! Daniels' state could get $3 billion from feds

If the House of Reps in DC gets its way, Indiana will find itself $3 billion richer, a number that has even Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels incredulous.

“It’s an astonishing amount of money. It will be really important to be prudent and careful about the way we spend it.”

Daniels and state officials posit the bill would mean:

a) 740 million for road and bridge projects

b) $1.5 billion for indiana's medicaid program

c) $800 million for education

And are you ready to wonder at the insatiable appetite of a profligate Democrat (always fun to do on a weekend night)? Indiana House Speaker Pat Bauer is your object of wonder.

[Bauer] said Indiana can’t just rely on money from Congress to stimulate the state’s economy. He’s advocating a package that would use some of the state’s reserves or money earmarked for future projects to pay for construction that could happen immediately.

“Everything we can do, we should do,” Bauer said.