MADDOW: STIMULUS HYPOCRISY IS A ‘GIFT-WRAPPED OPPORTUNITY’ FOR DEMS…. Arguably no one at the major media outlets has been as assertive on Republicans’ stimulus hypocrisy as MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. Her segment on the matter last night, which included an interview with Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine, is well worth watching.
For those of you who can’t watch clips from your work computers, Rachel explained, “At the one-year anniversary of the stimulus, it is turning out to offer not just economic recovery, but also Democratic political recovery. Democrats have basically three things to do between now and November: 1) they need to get good candidates to defend their open seats; 2) they need to pass health reform; and 3) they need to embarrass Republicans on their hypocrisy.
“The stimulus has been a gift-wrapped opportunity for Democrats to show how Republicans have denounced Democratic legislation in Washington for political effect, and then admitted in their home districts that the legislation works. It shows not only that Democratic policies work — and when push comes to shove, in their home districts, Republicans know it — it also shows that Republicans care so little about policy that they’re O.K. with holding totally nonsensically contradictory positions on important stuff.”
After noting the dozens of Republican lawmakers who’ve sought stimulus aid to help the economy in their states and districts, Maddow added, “These Republicans are acknowledging, in writing, that the stimulus is good policy. That it works. Thus proving that they don’t mean it when they denounce the stimulus as worthless.”
Democrats may be facing some headwinds this fall but, between stimulus hypocrisy and Republican embrace of a budget plan to privatize Social Security and eliminate Medicare, they’ll have an opportunity to go on the offensive, too.
