The GOP can’t stop this steam-roller. The only thing it can do is influence what it says. Make it say that the money is going to the states, and it becomes very defensible for the GOP to vote for it because not only will the red states get their share of the $, but the red states will then be able to use the money to give tax cuts while the blue states use it to pay off the debt they’ve run up in the last 8 years.
I’m of the opinion that most of the red states are controlled by city and state governments of a distinctly bluish tinge. The money might, as you suggest, go to the states under such a scenario, but it would be unwisely spent none the less. Government doesn’t spend wisely, Dem, GOP or any mix thereof. I can virtually guarantee that if Texas got a share of the money it would go toward making Perry and his cronies richer and I’d never see a dime’s worth of tax cuts at any level. Illegals might fare nicely from it, but not actual citizens.
It is just as unlikely, as not having a stimulus, that the money will leave Washington’s jurisdiction, in any case. They will direct its distribution. So rather than trying to get some of it for their governors, the GOP should stand fast on principle: “NO! No stimulus. Lower taxes and get out of the way.”
Any other tact, to me, is a compromise of principle. This, however, seems to have become a common modus operandi in GOP land.