Eric Kleefeld August 16, 2010, 1:53 PM

An amusing meme has popped up on the right, opposing the state education aid bill that passed last week: It’s not just bad policy from big-spending Washington liberals — it’s a criminal enterprise!

Here’s how the logic goes: President Obama and the Democrats spent a lot of money to prop up school districts in the midst of a tough economy and revenue shortfalls at the district level. Much of that money will pay teachers; some of that money will then go to union dues; in turn, the unions will spend money to campaign for Democrats. Ergo, the whole bill was an act of money laundering, to have the federal government fund Democratic campaigns.

As Greg Sargent pointed out, Rep. Michele Bachmann made the charge last week during an appearance on Fox Business Network. “Taxpayer money will essentially be laundered through the public employee unions, and spent to reelect those same Democrats this fall,” Bachmann said, speaking about the $26 billion in state aid for education. “And it will be used to go after the Republicans who refused to vote for the program.”

A bit later during the program, Sharron Angle then chimed in: “The emergency is only in Harry Reid’s mind. As Michele put it so succinctly, this is an emergency for the Democrats, a way to solidify the base, if you will, with our taxpayer dollars.”

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) has also gotten in on the act. “Much of those checks that will be distributed will have an automatic deduction in them that will transfer some of that money into the coffers of the unions and their political action money will go into the campaign accounts of 95 percent Democrats,” King said, Radio Iowa reports. “This is a blatant money-laundering scheme that’s cooked up by Nancy Pelosi.”

Question: Could the same logic be applied to government spending on wars and military contractors under Republican administrations?

2010 elections, Education, House '10, MN-06, Michele Bachmann, NV-SEN, Senate '10, Sharron Angle