More "Crony Economics" From The White House

I have long said that anyone who wants to see the mess that unfettered liberalism creates should check out California (George Will illustrated the point beautifully right here). Now, the Golden State is also offering an instructive lesson on what it means to be beholden to the Obama administration.

Even the crazy, punch-drunk left-wing spenders in the state legislature -- miracle of miracles -- managed to agree on a wage cut of $2 per hour for home health care workers. Believe me, the fact that this crowd agreed to cut anything approached a minor miracle.

Problem is, lots of them are unionized, which makes them a constituency that President Obama needs to please. So his administration has gotten involved to make sure that even this one cut can't get through.

Continuing an emerging pattern of "crony economics," at the behest of the SEIU, President Obama is threatening to withhold federal stimulus money from California if the state doesn't restore the wage cut.

Just another reminder of the way the Obama administration rolls. Think about it: California is literally trying to stave off economic disaster. But the President couldn't care less about that. It's only his union friends that count -- and he's willing (for California) to pay any cost to make sure they get what they want.