Hypocrisy

Republican Governors Quietly Accept Federal Dollars -- While Attacking Federal Spending

Brian Beutler | April 20, 2011, 9:17AM

Govs. Rick Perry, John Kasich (R-OH), Chris Christie (R-NJ) and Tom Corbett (R-PA)

Republican governors stormed into state houses this January after campaigning against federal spending, and various so-called state bailouts. They won in part by painting a slanted picture of fiscal mismanagement by their Democratic predecessors.

That rhetoric -- and the rhetoric of their more senior Republican peers -- continues to this day, and occasionally translates into genuinely puzzling acts of malgovernance. Florida Governor Rick Scott, for example, turned down $2.4 billion in federal funds to build a high-speed rail line from Orlando to Tampa.

But in other ways, their failure to publicly embrace additional federal commitments during tough economic times has left them behind the eight ball, politically. As the costs to their states of providing needed social services has risen, and their revenue has fallen, they're looking for sub rosa ways to take the money without catching flak from their bases.

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Hypocrisy

DCCC: No Joke, Republicans Are Hypocrites

Christina Bellantoni | April 1, 2010, 11:41AM

President Obama signed the $787 billion stimulus plan into law Feb. 17, 2009

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is getting in on the April Fools' Day action, adding new Republicans to their "Hypocrisy Hall of Fame" for lauding the stimulus bill they opposed.

The National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee went the funny video route to go after Democrats, but the DCCC chose to put out a release keying off the theme.

"Not an April Fools' Day Joke: 70 Percent of House Republicans Caught Claiming Credit for Jobs They Opposed," the DCCC headlined the release, obtained by TPMDC. "So far 128 House Republicans have tried to claim credit for creating jobs they tried to stop and the only thing missing is the part when they yell April Fools! ... even on April Fools' Day, voters will see what a joke the Republican hypocrisy is," DCCC spokesman Ryan Rudominer said in the release.

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Stimulus

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell Then: Stimulus Bad. Now: Thanks For The Cash!

Christina Bellantoni | February 16, 2010, 10:02AM

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell is now offering effusive praise for $24 million in federal funds that allowed him to establish an office of Health Information Technology and to fund a program helping Virginia doctors transition to electronic medical records.

Just one problem - he thinks the government shouldn't have spent that money to begin with.

One year ago, McDonnell told reporters the stimulus plan "is not going to be good long-term for America," though he did say according to the Virginian-Pilot that the Commonwealth should still "collect its share of the stimulus anyway."

Last summer, the Roanoke Times reported that McDonnell said the stimulus created more problems than it solved.

Yesterday, McDonnell (R) lauded Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for "advancing such a critical issue."

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Stimulus

Dems To Celebrate Stimulus Anniversary By Slamming GOP Hypocrisy On Bragging About The Cash They Opposed

Christina Bellantoni | February 10, 2010, 12:39PM

President Obama signed the $787 billion stimulus plan into law Feb. 17, 2009

Next week when President Obama marks the one-year anniversary of signing the stimulus bill into law, Democrats will showcase the Republicans who were against the Recovery Act funds, before they were for them being funneled to their home states.

TPMDC has learned the party will mount an orchestrated effort from the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to go after Republicans who voted against the$787 billion economic stimulus plan but take credit for its spending back home.

Obama signed the measure Feb. 17, 2009 with votes from just three Republicans (one of those GOPers, Sen. Arlen Specter, became a Democrat) but members of the opposing party have campaigned on stimulus projects.

A Democratic source told me the party will force both incumbents up for reelection in the fall and Republican challengers to say on the record if they support the stimulus plan, which the White House in tandem will showcase as having created jobs.

"Look for us to be all over this story," the source said.

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