It’s time to give thanks where thanks are due.
That didn’t happen March 11 when directors of senior centers throughout Livingston County thanked the Livingston County Commission for the hundreds of thousands of American Rescue Plan dollars that they are busily spending.
Roof repairs, painting, new flooring, new chairs, Keurig coffee machines, bus trips for seniors, handicap-accessible doors, $52,000 for a generator for a warming and cooling center – and lots more – all have been purchased with federal ARPA funds, they reported. To be sure, our seniors deserve and need all those things — and more.
Then the directors went on to thank the all-Republican county commission for the money.
What they forgot, or maybe didn’t know, is that not a single Republican voted for the ARPA funding when Congress sent it to President Biden for his signature.
And Republicans in Livingston County really don’t like accepting federal money like ARPA funds, although they do it all the time.
Their attitude is best summed up by Commissioner Wes Nakagiri’s 2013 testimony before the Michigan House Committee on Competitiveness, when he argued against taking federal money to expand Medicaid in Michigan. As treasurer for Retake Our Gov PAC, he submitted written testimony that said, “Future generations of Americans should not have to pay for the failed programs of our generation.”
Yet, as the thanks poured forth from the senior center directors on Monday, Nakagiri kept his mouth shut and basked in the glow of appreciation for all those federal dollars he hates to spend.
A more gracious person would have noted that the thanks go to Joe Biden and the Democrats.
