Plenty of Lawmakers Were Against the Stimulus Before They Were For It
3 hours ago

Christopher Weber
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The stimulus package designed to jump start the economy last year was a convenient target for members of both parties looking to take a stand against government spending.

But after bashing the stimulus, a surprising number of those lawmakers, Republican and Democratic alike, happily sought a share of the money for their home districts, according to a new investigation published Monday by The Washington Post and the Center for Public Integrity.

The Post points out Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) repeatedly railed against the stimulus, calling it a package of "trillion-dollar spending sprees" that were "more about stimulating the government and rewarding political allies than growing the economy and creating jobs." But then Sessions went back to his Dallas-area district and lobbied for some of the same government money for an $81-million transportation project.

His letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, "suggested that the project would create jobs, undercutting his public arguments against the stimulus," according to the Post's report.

Sessions (pictured) defended the apparent gap between his words and actions.
"What I have not done is allow my strong, principled objection to the bill to prevent me from asking federal agencies for their full consideration of critical infrastructure and competitive grant projects for North Texas when asked to do so by my constituents," he told the newspaper.
Sessions was not alone, according to the Post:

Scores of Republicans and conservative Democrats who voted against the stimulus law subsequently wrote letters seeking funds. They include tea party favorites such as freshman Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), as well as Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), former presidential candidates.

Like their Republican counterparts, Democratic critics of the stimulus also sent letters seeking funding afterward. Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho), one of seven Democrats in the House to vote against the bill, has written letters to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke requesting funds for four broadband-related projects in his state.

Read the Post investigation on lawmakers who were against the stimulus before they were for it here.

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/10/18/plenty-of-lawmakers-were-against-the-stimulus-before-they-were-f/

Yea, I guess the stimulus was only a problem publically huh?