Republicans railed against the Democrats' massive economic-stimulus and spending bills as fiscally irresponsible, but some GOP lawmakers are taking credit for projects in their own districts funded by the measures.
"Washington needs to stop spending money that it doesn't have," Michigan Republican Rep. Pete Hoekstra said in attacking the $410 billion omnibus-spending bill, which funds the government through September. But once it passed, he touted its benefits for his district, which stretches along Lake Michigan.
"Safe and navigable harbors are economic engines that drive the communities that surround them," Mr. Hoekstra declared, announcing $3 million for harbor improvements.
Hoekstra then shows the crux of the whole problem with his justification of his behavior, and it is the quintessential portrait of the self-centered arrogance (and cowardice) that Republicans have become famous for: Make someone else procure the money, use it as a weapon against them, while you enjoy the benefits of the bounty.
A number of lawmakers disputed this, saying it isn't surprising that a bad bill would contain some good elements. Even if a spending bill is wasteful, they said, that doesn't mean items for their district can't be worthwhile.
"Not to be rude, but it's one of the dumbest things," Mr. Hoekstra said of the notion that there is a contradiction. "The only people who are supposed to get money in an omnibus bill are the ones that vote for it?...I don't see any inconsistency at all."
Translation: ISOKIYAR. No, Pete, you wouldn't see the inconsistency there, would you. Bush Republicans never do.
Thieves often kid themselves that they are entitled to the fruits of someone else's hard work. Republican thieves have turned this thinking into a bona fide clinical psychological disorder.