GOP begs for stimulus while condemning it

Editor's note: Lying, double dealin' politicians are nothing new, but the level at which they engage in such bull has reached epidemic proportions. Even here in Hays County, there's plenty of it to go around. Alas, to expect an honest, straight talking politician is to expect too much – remember that when you cast your ballot in the next election. According to epistemologist Jeremy Sherman, in Ambigamy (Psychology Today), "We like to think politicians should know we only want straight talk. When we think like that, we're lying about lying. We're pretending we believe and can live by a simple rule like "honesty is the best policy."

Austin American-Statesman | By Laylan Copelin | One year ago – Gov. Rick Perry has always publicly stiff-armed federal stimulus dollars, even as he accepted billions to balance the state budget and tens of millions that he could award to constituents. He even ignored state law and his own executive order that require all state agencies and institutions of higher education to be "accountable and transparent" by posting their stimulus spending reports on their Web sites.

Daily Kos | Posted by Hunter – On March 8, 2011, Gannett news service reported that the funding for Cates Landing was being targeted by lawmakers looking to slash the federal budget. The same day that report came out, Tennessee GOP Congressman Stephen Fincher spoke directly with Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood about the funds. The next day, he wrote a follow-up letter seeking assistance in "obligating" the $13 million grant for the port. [...]

"We just wanted to make sure that we could do everything possible to create jobs, and this was a part we could play and I did everything I could and we were successful," the congressman declared a few days later to reporters, onlookers and fellow lawmakers, at an event praising the incoming funds.

Two days after writing LaHood, Fincher voted for a Republican House budget that cut billions of dollars, including from many other transportation priorities. His office put out a press release scolding "out of control" and "reckless" federal spending. [...]

There's not really a "dilemma" here, of course, because the mantra of each of these GOP politicians is perfectly consistent: gimme some cash and screw everybody else. But it does show at minimum that even Republicans don't believe Republican economics. Even Michele Bachmann, archconservative extraordinaire, is an eager proponent of Keynesian economics in her district.