"Expect the Democratic campaign committees to emphasize this heavily as the election season nears."
—Steve Benen 10:40 AM

Exactly why is it we should expect to see them doing what they have never done before?
Have I missed any news reports of any Dem's undergoing spine-implant surgery?

As a callow yout' I learned the aphorism, "Do as I say, don't do as I do."

I suppose it is nice that the MSM is at least reporting on the hypocrisy. . .

Expect the Democratic campaign committees to emphasize this heavily as the election season nears.

Well, you lost me there. These DC Democrats, especially in the Senate, do not want to offend Republicans.

They are what we rubes refer to as "pussies."

Expect the Democratic campaign committees to emphasize this heavily as the election season nears.

Why? The Democrats in Congress have shown remarkable ability to let primo campaign material rot unused on the ground.

For that matter, why wait until election season nears? This seems like the kind of thing that would be better used NOW, to establish the base meme that the GOP is a bunch of hypocrites, poisoning whatever they say going forward. If it only comes back out in the fall, the danger is that voters will fall for the GOP rejoinder of "Well, I was against it, but once the Democratic majority had rammed through this budget-busting spending, it was my duty to my constituents to make sure we got our share."

I wish I had any faith in the Democrats messaging abilities, but look where we are.

What is critical in any clear discussion of these efforts IS THE TIMING!!! THe repub. defense is "well, once the bill was in place, who was I to forego money for my folks back home..."

FOCUS ON THE TIMING: Senate passed the bill FEB 10, 2009.

My man Bob Bennett, WROTE HIS LETTER TO SEC AG FEB 11, 2009.

HOUSE Passed the bill, FEB 13.

PRESIDENT SIGNED FEB 17, 2009.

So according to the Wash. Times article, Bob "bring the pork the Utah" Bennett urged various forms of funding BEFORE THE BILL WAS OFFICIALLY LAW - BEFORE THE HOUSE even passed it. He was doing what a good senator should do - try to align spending to the interest of his state. However, he cannot admit to this, since he railed publically against the bill two days later, and now this year, faces challenges from the right. If you can imagine him being outflanked on the right. In Utah.

BUT the timing is clear - he did not wait for the bill to pass, as is implied by his office, and most other repubs.

"Expect the Democratic campaign committees to emphasize this heavily as the election season nears."

Really? Do you really expect these gutless, clueless clowns to play hardball with Rethugs about this? I don't.

Gov. McDonnell from Virginia just accepted his stimulus money.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/virginia-gov-bob-mcdonnell-then-stimulus-bad-now-thanks-for-the-cash.php?ref=fpb

Well--Obviously if you spend money to hire people you're going to create jobs. Of course Republicans are going to recognize that, and they're going to want those jobs to be in their district if possible. But the objection to the stimulus wasn't that it wouldn't create jobs, but that it wouldn't create net jobs. As the argument goes, government borrowing crowds out private borrowers, so that any additional government-funded positions will be balanced out by private-sector losses. All the stimulus will do, accordingly, is move the jobs around. Given that proposition, it's responsible behavior for a Republican to want those jobs moved to her constituents--and, I might add, those constituents will appreciate it. Now, the anti-stimulus argument is poppycock, even though there are "reputable" economists who can be trotted out to support it. But the voters will look around and see--oops--no net job creation. And they're going to see their Republican representative opposing something that's blowing up the budget and providing [as they see it] no net jobs, but making sure that the folks back home are protected. Who's gonna win this one?

What the Repugnants are doing RE the stimulus bill is just a variation on a theme that all the DC pols do:

they bring in the pork, trash the federal gov't and pig off all the glory for their re-election by the grateful and led-to-believe-they're-in-on-the wink wink nudge nudge gov't funded hometown whatever, that is then gratefully named for the clown car senator or congresscritter...

...who goes up there and fights washington blah blah blah blah blah...

"You give 'em hell, senator" they all scream at the ribbon-cutting...

a fairly blunt weapon to point at the Repugnants...

What is critical in any clear discussion of these efforts IS THE TIMING!!! THe repub. defense is "well, once the bill was in place, who was I to forego money for my folks back home..."

But the timing has nothing to do with it. These people STILL insist that the stimulus didn't provide any stimulus, while touting how well the stimulus did for their people.

This isn't an issue of hypocrisy. This is an issue of them using the stimulus as an issue to attack Obama for national political purposes, while also using it to score points for local political purposes in a way that exposes their national attacks on Obama as being lies.

OT - Gridlock, if you're reading, WaPo took your headline, "Bye Bye Bayh".

Even the Washington Times and the WSJ are commenting on this phenomenon? I thought they wouldn't write a bad word about conservative politicians if they were caught in bed with two underage girls and a sheep.

You what we need to do? STARVE THEIR DISTRICTS. The people are stupid enough to love the GOP? Make them pay. Funnel the money to the districts that support Dems and lefties.

I'm sick of not playing hardball.

[...] why wait until election season nears? This seems like the kind of thing that would be better used NOW[...] -- biggerbox, @ 10:47

Couldn't agree more. *Now* is the time to make a big issue of it. By the time the election season rolls in, it'll simply look like another political trick, not a real, principled, issue.

But, like everyone else, I doubt the Dems will diem the carp; they don't seem to be very skillful at that. One might almost think that it's not the party of the educated elites... :)

Oh, and I agree with bigutah, @10:50; the timing (as in "sequence of events") *is* important. The picture the scammers push is "well, the money was lying in the street, might as well pick it up. It came out of your pocket in the first pace, I'm aiming to put it back there". But, obviously, that's not what happened; the hand was out for alms *before* the money was even made available. It's not just the hypocrisy of it; it's also that such begging requests made the passage of the bill (taking money out of your pocket, as the Repubs like to present it) all the more likely, since it made the immediate need of it all that more apparent.

Expect the Democratic campaign committees to emphasize this heavily as the election season nears.
In case no one has noticed the Republicans started election season as soon as Obama won.
What are the Dems waiting for? I don't have much hope for them any more.What a bunch of Woosies!

David in Nashville - how could one look around and see no net job creation? You need a counter-factual to establish that, and by nature that's something you can't see. You're giving people way too much credit if you think they can think that abstractly.

Who is doing the best job of exposing this cash-and-trash BS, in a way that is not just preaching to the choir? And are they taking donations?

Why are white-wing rags like the WSJ and WaTimes lowering the boom on congressional republicants.

I suspect they're trying to bolster teabaggers to primary.