The Sunshine Empire

One common story that appears regularly in the liberal blogging world is the Republican who was against the stimulus but takes credit back home story. Hundreds of Congressional Republicans have been documented railing against the Recovery Act, then going home and passing out giant checks to constituents that were made possible by the very same act. The same story is retold in today’s Washington times in this article: Stimulus foes see value in seeking cash. Now it should be noted that the common Republican response to these accusations is not without merit. The common refrain is that, as much as they disagreed with the program, they would not be doing their job as a representative of their state if they did not ensure that their particular state’s tax dollars were not used for those taxpayers footing the bill for the stimulus. This story is told over and over, yet that is not where congressional Republicans are really being disingenuous.

The Washington Times story details how after many Congressional Republicans made very public criticisms of the Stimulus bill saying that it would never generate any jobs, they wrote letters to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack appealing for funds on the basis that they would help create jobs in their district. Voting against a measure and then using said measure’s benefits is as American as mom and apple pie. Stating to the world that the measure is a failure before it’s been given the opportunity to work, the appealing for funds on the basis of what you say the bill can never do is where you lose me.