More GOP hypocrisy on health care and stimulus money

In advance of the health care summit, and flying in face of GOP lies objections, here are over a dozen GOP proposals included in the President's health care bill.

Bloomberg

Alabama Republicans Jo Bonner and Robert Aderholt took to the U.S. House floor in July, denouncing the Obama administration’s stimulus plan for failing to boost employment. “Where are the jobs?” each of them asked.

Over the next three months, Bonner and Aderholt tried at least five times to steer stimulus-funded transportation grants to Alabama on grounds that the projects would help create thousands of jobs.

They joined more than 100 congressional Republicans and several Democrats who, after voting against the stimulus bill, wrote Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood seeking money from $1.5 billion the plan set aside for local road, bridge, rail and transit grants. The $862 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed last year with no Republican votes in the House and three in the Senate.

The problem isn't that they took the money. It's not. I didn't give back my $300 Bush tax rebate that I objected to. The real problem is the hypocrisy of taking the money that you voted against, posing for pictures at ribbon-cuttings for new jobs that comes from the money, and then calling the stimulus a failure that's produced nothing.

Meanwhile, the CBO released a report that says that, conservatively, the stimulus created at least 1 million new jobs (2.1 million is the high number) and added at least 1.5% to the GDP (3.5% is the high number).

Washington Post

The economic stimulus law added between 1 million to 2.1 million workers to employment rolls by the end of last year, a new report released Tuesday by congressional economists said.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office study also said the $862 billion stimulus added between 1.5 to 3.5 percentage points to the growth of the economy in 2009. The controversial stimulus law combined tax breaks for individuals and businesses with lots of government spending.

The report reflects agreement among economists that the measure boosted the economy.