Representative Icet defends his stance on stimulus money

Intro:	United States Senator Claire McCaskill and the Missouri House Budget Committee Chair bicker about federal stimulus money.
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Wrap: United States Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill criticized Missouri legislators that disapproved federal stimulus money while using it.

St. Louis County Republican Representative Allen Icet says Missouri only took the money so it wouldn't go to another state.

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Description: "I wish the federal government would of never sent the money to begin with, but if they are going to do that and put those kind of strings, such that it goes elsewhere, yes, we will take our taxpayers money and spend it as best we can."

Icet also says the stimulus money hasn't fixed the State's budget, but just delayed the states hard times for another year.

Reporting from the State Capitol, I'm Rebecca Stephen.

Intro:	The federal stimulus money is only a temporary fix for Missouri said the Chair of the House Budget Committee after Claire McCaskill made comments about Missouri lawmakers disagreeing with the money.
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Wrap: St. Louis County Republican Representative Allen Icet defended his stance on the federal stimulus after United States Senator Claire McCaskill criticized him and other Missouri legislators.

Icet says the states should not thank the federal government because they only delayed fixing the problem.

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Description: "The federal government has just extended day of reckoning by a couple of years. That day of reckoning, if nothing changes between now and one year from now, this state will be making difficult cuts."

McCaskill says the stimulus money was needed and saved cuts to basic services.

Reporting from the State Capitol, I'm Rebecca Stephen.

Intro:	The Missouri House of Representatives Budget Chair says he wishes the state never got stimulus money. He said this in response to United States Senator Claire McCaskill comments about Missouri legislators disagreeing with the federal financial aid.
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Wrap: McCaskill says some Missouri lawmakers bashed the federal stimulus while using the money it provided in the budget.

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Description: "They're playing a game right now. They're saying the stimulus is evil, and then thet're shutting the door as they do their budgets saying thank God we have the stimulus."

In response, House Budget Chairmen Representative Allen Icet,a Republican from St. Louis County, says Missouri only accepted the money to keep it from going to other states.

Also, Icet says the financial aid only delayed the hard decision of what should be cut from the Missouri budget.

Reporting from the State Capitol, I'm Rebecca Stephen.