from think progress.org -

Stimulating Hypocrisy

Earlier this year, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 without a single Republican vote in the House of Representatives and with the support of only three Republicans in the Senate. This stimulus bill, which included $552 billion in spending and $275 billion in tax cuts, has provided much-needed support to state and local economies across the country. Cognizant to this fact, conservatives have jumped on the chance to personally deliver stimulus money to their cash-strapped states and districts, while conveniently brushing past their original opposition. A two-faced approach to the stimulus debate has become routine for many Republicans, with many GOP lawmakers who are standing against the stimulus in Washington, D.C., but touting it when they travel home to their constituents.

CONGRESSIONAL HYPOCRITES: Several House Republicans who opposed the Recovery Act quickly returned to their districts to tout projects that it funded. Stimulus opponent Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA) met with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (D) and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood recently to solicit stimulus money for streetcar expansions and road repairs. Cao proudly boasted that he is looking "at federal monies that the state has and channeling more of that money to the district." Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) earlier this month asked for stimulus funds to be diverted into paying down the deficit rather than paying it out to states. But the same day he took credit for the construction site at Blue Grass Army Depot in Madison County, Kentucky -- a project that was funded in large part by the Recovery Act. One of the most brazen acts of hypocrisy came from House Minority Whip Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), who has repeatedly claimed that the stimulus is "failing" to create jobs. Earlier this month, Cantor appeared at a job fair in Midlothian, VA, to demonstrate how he is working on "long-term solutions that will put...Virginia workers back on the path to financial stability." But scores of jobs advertised at the jobs fair were created by the stimulus, and Chesterfield County, where the fair was being held, will receive more than $38 million in stimulus funding over the next two years. 

HYPOCRITICAL GOVERNORS: Republican governors lined up to attack the Recovery Act and oppose its passage as well. Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA), said if he was still a member of Congress he would've voted against the stimulus and wrote an op-ed in Politico lambasting the Recovery Act's effect, calling it the "stimulus that has not stimulated." Yet the very next day, he appeared with constituents in Louisiana to present a jumbo-sized check of federal grant money authorized under the Recovery Act to residents of Vernon Parish. He later toured the state in a "Louisiana Working" tour, handing out millions of dollars of stimulus money while simultaneously attacking "Washington Spending." Similarly, Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC) wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal last year titled "Don't Bail Out My State," proudly boasting about being the only governor to travel to Washington to lobby against the stimulus package. Yet after the legislation was passed, Sanford changed his mind and told reporters that being against the Recovery Act "doesn't preclude taking the money." In April, Sanford became the last governor to seek economic recovery funds.

THE STIMULUS IS WORKING: The Council of Economic Advisers, in a report released earlier this month, called the Recovery Act the "boldest countercyclical fiscal stimulus in American history" and concluded that the stimulus added nearly 500,000 jobs to the economy in the second quarter of 2009 that would not have been there without it. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), one of the few Republicans who voted in favor of the stimulus, noted last March that even "those who were opposed to the stimulus spending will see some of the projects that are underway in their communities as they've initiated." Snowe said she believes that the effect of the spending has been to create an "amazing" number of projects in her home state. Many conservatives who opposed the stimulus or the idea of Keynesian spending in general have started to line up to defend the Recovery Act. On Aug. 7, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who served as Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) chief economic adviser during his 2008 campaign, told reporters that "no one would argue that the stimulus has done nothing." Three days later, Niall Ferguson of the conservative Hoover Institution said the Recovery Act "has clearly made a significant contribution to stabilizing the US economy."

ENERGY -- THE REAL FACES OF COAL: A new "grassroots" fossil fuel front group, FACES of Coal, is employing a shadowy Republican-staffed company to spread its message. The Federation for American Coal, Energy, and Security --- a pro-mountaintop removal campaign that refuses to reveal its "grassroots" members -- held its initial press conference in Charleston, WV. There, a representative from the West Virginia Coal Association -- one of the few groups to publicly admit being part of FACES -- complained about "outsiders" who don't "appreciate America's reliance on coal." But as theDeSmog Project reported, FACES is willing to rely on "outsiders" to do its actual work. The FACES website, which includes no contact information anduses pictures from iStockPhotos to portray grassroots supporters, isregistered to the Adfero Group, a K Street public relations firm. Adfero's online communications arm was spun off as Fireside21. Adfero and Fireside21 serve predominantly Republican and corporate clients. Ken Ward,Fireside21 CEO, was a staffer for former Republican congressman Richard Pombo; Jeff Mascott, Fireside21 president and Adfero managing director, built the GOP.gov website. Additionally, Adfero is behind numerous big oil astroturf campaigns, including "Fuel For America," which whitewashed price-gouging by its clients following Hurricane Katrina; the "ChamberGrassroots," "Vote For Business" and "Coalition for a Democratic Workplace" campaigns that fight labor reforms including card-check; and the campaign "Californians Against Higher Taxes," which killed a clean energy reform ballot measure in 2006. Adfero clients include the American Tort Reform Association, the National Pork Producers Council, and the Independent Petroleum Association of America.

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll has found that 55 percent of Americans approve of the way President Obama is handling energy issues and nearly 60 percent support changes in U.S energy policy being proposed by Congress and the administration. Fifty-two percent support a cap-and-trade system. Business lobbying groups are launching a multimillion-dollar ad campaign to defeat climate change legislation. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) are targeting the Waxman-Markey bill "as a threat to the economy" by claiming it would raise energy costs. The astroturf lobbying firm Bonner & Associates, which sent fake letters to members of Congress on behalf of coal companies, is blaming the embarrassing incidents on a temporary employee. The firm claims it was "the victim of a fraud" perpetrated by a temp who joined the firm "with the pre-determined intent of engaging in fraudulent activity." The latest Gallup daily tracking poll shows that President Obama's overall approval rating has fallen to 50 percent, down 19 points since his inauguration in January. Obama's sliding numbers coincide with "growing unrest about his healthcare plans." Special envoy to Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke had an "explosive" meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai last week about the country's elections. The BBC reports that Holbrooke "raised concerns about ballot-stuffing and fraud" and "twice raised the idea of holding a second round run-off because of concerns about the voting process." A new essay by Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Adm. Michael Mullen offers a "searing critique of government efforts at 'strategic communication' with the Muslim world." "Each time we fail to live up to our values or don't follow up on a promise," writes Mullen, "we look more and more like the arrogant Americans the enemy claims we are." Speaking to the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said that passing the Employee Free Choice Act has "fallen off the Senate's radar for now." "We have too many other things on our plate," said Reid. He also said he'd give bipartisan health care talks two weeks after the Senate reconvenes before deciding about whether to use reconciliation or not. Yesterday, Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) wrote in a letter to President Obama that he is "deeply disappointed" the administration has not repealed the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Arguing the military cannot afford to lose soldiers when more troops are being requested in Afghanistan, Hastings encouraged Obama "to come up with a new policy that doesn't discriminate based on sexual orientation." Pentagon officials are reviewing The Rendon Group's work that rates reporters seeking to embed with U.S. troops abroad. "I haven't seen anything that violates any policies, but again, I'm learning about aspects of this as I question our folks in Afghanistan," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. "If I find something that is inconsistent with Defense Department values and policies, you can be sure I will address it." And finally: Slate's Christopher Beam takes a look at what "happens in congressional offices when the boss is gone." He spotted two congress staffers "in a back hallway locked in a passionate embrace, the gentlemangripping the lady's pearl necklace between his fingers and -- NSFW -- licking it aggressively. On being caught, the pair disbanded." In August, people also start "picking up hobbies" -- like watching re-runs of the show "Melrose Place," although some offices are still busy working on health care reform.