Stimulus Irony

The Clarion Ledger reports

Ethel Mayor Ophelia Mitchell took off work from Mississippi State University on Monday and drove more than an hour to ask Thompson what small towns - ones with fewer than 500 people - will gain.

Ethel, which is located in Attala County about 10 miles from Kosciusko, has about 450 residents, according to the most recent census figures.

Like Mitchell, officials from small, rural towns across the country have expressed concern they may not be able to compete with larger cities for their share of the federal money, although their needs may be just as dire.

"We don't have that kind of money saved up," Mitchell said. "We're still paying for things that our town fathers bought years ago."

Thanks to this stimulus, so will your great-grandchildren.