Showdown at the Juneau corral featuring Sarah "Sidewinder" Palin vs The Hole in the Mountain Gang.

State lawmakers are preparing to reject Gov. Sarah Palin's plan to cut state spending, including $93 million for schools, and replace it with federal economic stimulus money. That would set up a showdown between the Legislature and the governor, a relationship already fouled by lots of bad blood.

Sitka Republican Sen. Bert Stedman, who leads the state Senate effort on the stimulus, said today the "likelihood is not high" that the Senate will agree to the plan. Senate President Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, said he thinks the Senate majority is in agreement that Palin's proposal is not a good idea.

"At this point (the plan) doesn't make any sense to me," Stevens said today.

The governor has balked at accepting nearly a third of the $930.7 million economic stimulus money that Alaska is eligible to get. She has heavily criticized the stimulus but said she'll take the money if the Legislature agreed to cut state spending -- mostly for education -- and use the federal money instead.

But that's not likely to happen. Legislators said they want to use the stimulus money as an opportunity to improve schools as well as share with cities, including $8 million for Anchorage. Using it just to save state money holds little interest.

"It seems to me that is not the point of the stimulus. The point of the stimulus is new jobs and to encourage the economy, and it is not to replace monies you were going to spend anyway," said Stevens, the president of the Senate.

Now usually this kind of rootin tootin showdown would feature one varmint in the traditional black hat (Sarah Palin in this case) and the other side bedecked in brilliant white hats (The Alaska Legislators). However I am not quite ready to credit the Alaska legislators with being completely worthy of wearing the ivory chapeau's.

However I will say that they have done quite a lot lately to earn the right to wear the aforementioned adornment. They have been kicking back Palin appointees like so many errant soccer balls.

And they are definitely on the side of the angels with this particular topic. It is absolutely a misuse of the stimulus to use it to replace state spending, It is supposed to be ADDITIONAL funds that can be used to stimulate the economy and pay for things that the state cannot afford to finance on its own, and every rational person knows that. Sadly that seems to leave out our own Governor Sarah.

So there they stand. The Governor fingering her six shooter and waiting to shoot down a portion of the stimulus package if the legislators do not let her use it to replace state money on one side, and the unarmed legislators trying to decide whether to stand their ground in defiance of the Governor's bullying tactics or to turn tail and run back to the bunkhouse and let the Governor have her victory. Eye to eyes they stand, the only question remaining is "who will blink first?

Personally I hope the legislators hold their ground and force the Governor to personally refuse this money and let that be the story that the liberal media and blogs get to use as ammunition to define the Governor for weeks to come. Make her show her true visage to the citizens of Alaska, let's see how attractive they find Sarah Palin then.

This is OUR money that OUR government is giving us to help OUR people. Will OUR Governor refuse it on OUR behalf? And if she does how long before the Alaskan people decide that maybe a recall is not such a bad idea?