Playing Both Sides Of the Field

Lawmakers, mostly Republican lawmakers voted against the Obama stimulus yet got plenty of positive face time in their communities for that same money infusion and resulting economic activity. Obama has pointed this out with glee.

McClatchy has investigated.

We sit back and watch the hypocrisy bubble.

McClatchy: Some lawmakers said no to stimulus bill, but not its cash

So do Idaho's lawmakers think they're hypocrites?


Emphatically no, said Republican Sen. Mike Crapo, who along with Simpson trumpeted the millions of dollars in funding for the Idaho National Laboratory, money that's created jobs and helped keep eastern Idaho's economy afloat in an otherwise bleak period for the state.


"I said at the outset that spending $800 billion in the short term would generate some economic activity that would not have otherwise been generated," Crapo said. "But that long term, the drag of that debt. If you take the amount of benefit that's being calculated out there and then offset against the amount of debt that's out there that each individual in America will pick up as well in the future, well, I'm not sure that the balance is justifiable. In fact, I'm quite confident that it is not."