Those who live in a governor’s mansion should not throw stones.

They should not ask their constituents to eat cake while they deliver speeches to their favorite political groups, attempting to tie down political endorsements to run for president in 2012. Meanwhile, their constituents suffer through this global economic crisis. They remind me of this old song. When I hear conservative GOP governors such as South Carolina’s Mark Sanford, Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal and Alaska’s Sarah Palin making excuses for rejecting billions in stimulus money designated primarily for health care, education and public infrastructure projects, all I hear is Steve Miller. “Go on, take the money and run.” With teachers facing layoffs, mounting job losses, personal bankruptcy filings rising, millions of Americans relying on food stamps and schools failing, how they can say anything other than “thank you, please keep it coming” to the federal government is beyond me. Sanford is running ads defending his position, paid for by a nonprofit into which he funneled more than $100,000 from his conference bank account. With one of the highest high-school dropout rates in the country, can you think of a better way to spend nonprofit money? When Sanford runs for president in 2012, I want all the high school students who dropped out during his tenure to send him a bill for their wages lost.

What they are all doing is playing the old political game of trying to position themselves in a crowded 2012 Republican primary field. Why don’t they all see a face on every dollar bill — not a president’s, but a child’s. Don’t turn down money for our kids. Which brings to mind another song: “I believe children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way.” Listen up, Sanford, Jindal and Palin, Whitney Houston was singing that just for you. Well, you have to admit that Palin and Jindal got the message. At least they’ve flip-flopped to the right side of the issue.

As formerly vocal opponents of stimulus funds, both are now singing a different tune. Palin is slow to read the political winds. She determines her stance based on how they’re blowing. But she’s always late. This is the Bridge to Nowhere all over again, except in reverse. In that case, she was for it before she was against it. She was for it when no one knew about the useless boondoggle, but when it received negative attention, she changed her tune.

When she thought she’d gain political capital and credibility by opposing the stimulus bill on “principled” grounds, you betcha she was a vocal opponent. On March 19, she vowed to reject nearly one-third of funds available to her state. But the winds shifted, and by the next day, her lieutenant governor, Sean Parnell, was out there backtracking. Palin should thank Jindal for shifting the spotlight from her hypocrisy to his. He caused such a stink over funds allocated for transportation spending. Now, he will request a slice of the pie to fund the development of a rail service connecting New Orleans and Baton Rouge. As a Louisiana girl myself, I concur that there is nothing wasteful about facilitating environmentally friendly transportation options between two major cities. Palin, Sanford and Jindal are jockeying for position. This isn’t about their states not needing the money offered. It isn’t about serving constituents. If it were, all three would take as much as they can get. But instead of doing the right thing, they’re doubling down on the favored strategy of Republicans these days and turning themselves into the epitome of the party of no!

I wish they would all get out of their public mansions and sit with the people who could use some help.

Donna Brazile is a contributing columnist to Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill; and former campaign manager for Al Gore.

Copyright 2009, Donna Brazile.

Distributed by Newspaper Enterprise Assn.