Democrats mark the anniversary of the stimulus with GOP ‘hypocrites’ video

Democrats wished Republicans a “happy anniversary” of sorts with a Web video marking the stimulus act’s first year in law.

In
their latest salvo against Republicans who voted against the $787
billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the Democratic
National Committee (DNC) called 93 Republicans “hypocrites” for having
promoted benefits from the bill in their districts.

“Republicans don’t want to acknowledge that the recovery act has created jobs — many of them in their own districts,” the ad says. “Except when they’re asking for funding to create those very jobs.”

{mosads}The DNC and other Democrats have sought to portray many in the GOP as having voted against the stimulus, only to have turned around and boasted of the bill’s projects. The effort marks the one-year anniversary of President Barack Obama signing the spending bill into law.

The DNC claimed in a conference call on Tuesday that as many as 93 Republican lawmakers had claimed benefits for the stimulus in their states or districts after having voted against the package.

The ad targets three senators — Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) — and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) in particular for perceived flip-flops on the ARRA.

The act passed last year with no GOP votes in the House and two Republican votes in the Senate. Obama signed it into law on Feb. 17, 2009.