GOP won’t turn down stimulus spending

Rep. Phil Gingrey blasted the federal stimulus program before voting against it in February, predicting its chances of success were “slim and none” and that it would worsen the national debt.

But that didn’t stop the Republican from presenting an oversized check for $625,000 in federal stimulus funds to Cedartown officials this month for new downtown sidewalks, landscaping and other streetscape improvements. A photo of him holding the check with Cedartown officials appeared on the front page of The Cedartown Standard newspaper Oct. 8. The check was signed “Uncle Sam.”

Gingrey isn’t the only Republican congressman to oppose the stimulus program and then later associate himself with the spending from it. Georgia Rep. Jack Kingston’s office has been sending out news releases announcing federal funding for his constituents without mentioning the money comes from the stimulus program. And The Associated Press reported in August that the state’s Republican senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to steer $50 million in stimulus money to a constituent’s bioenergy project. Gates didn’t do it, the AP reported.

The Republicans say that while they opposed the stimulus bill, it is now the law and they must look out for their constituents and support worthy projects. Democrats say they are trying to have it both ways.

“It is hypocritical that they rail against the stimulus package and then are somehow trying to take credit for it or take advantage of it,” said Jane Kidd, chairwoman of the Georgia Democratic Party.

Meanwhile, Democrats say the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is doing what it was supposed to do by preventing layoffs and putting people back to work. Georgia officials reported last week that 18 state agencies have spent $702 million of the $3.2 billion allocated to them since President Barack Obama signed the legislation in February, resulting in 23,879 jobs created or retained in Georgia. That’s only a partial count because Georgia’s figures do not include statistics from local governments, nonprofit agencies and businesses.

But critics point out that Georgia’s and the nation’s unemployment rates have risen and the country has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs since the stimulus program was approved.

Despite their opposition to the stimulus, however, Republicans are not going empty-handed. Tens of millions of dollars in stimulus spending on federal grants, contracts and loans have flowed into their congressional districts since February, according to statistics on recovery.gov. In fact, combined spending for Georgia’s seven GOP congressional districts totals $502.8 million, compared with $319.8 million for the state’s six Democratic districts.

In February, Gingrey spoke in opposition to the stimulus legislation on the floor of the House before voting against the final version, saying it would create $1.2 trillion in national debt. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that figure would come in lower at $787 billion by 2019.

“I don’t know how our children and grandchildren will ever pay for this,” Gingrey said in February. “And the chance of it being successful are slim and none in my opinion. I am opposed to it. I think we can do better.”

Gingrey said he remains opposed to the stimulus legislation, which Congress passed without a single Republican vote in the House. He noted that while the stimulus program is intended to put people back to work and help pull America out of the recession, the national unemployment rate has continued to rise.

“If the Democrats are hellbent on spending an astronomical sum of money,” Gingrey said in a statement this week, “it is my job as a member of Congress to see that the communities I represent receive consideration for the federal funds that the Democrats are spending, whether I agreed with its allocation or not.”

A spokeswoman for Gingrey said the congressmen did not lobby anyone for the $625,000 for Cedartown. And a Cedartown official said he did not have estimates for how many jobs would be created or saved through the project. But the city’s landscape architect said the first phase of the project attracted bids from nine contractors.

On July 28, Kingston’s office issued news releases announcing $245,187 combined in funding through the federal Office of Community Oriented Policing Services for the Alma and Jesup police departments. The money will pay the salary and benefits for one entry-level police officer for each department for three years, according to Kingston’s news releases, which did not mention the funding was made possible by the federal stimulus program.

“We’ve seen from experience that local initiatives go a lot further toward solving local problems than policies set in Washington,” Kingston said in his release about the funding for Jesup. “This funding will provide tax relief by saving local tax dollars.”

In February, Kingston said the recovery act is “fundamentally flawed and doesn’t represent the change we deserve or the stimulus we need.” His spokesman said Kingston, who remains opposed to the stimulus, routinely announces all types of federal funding for his district without identifying the legislation that created it.

“We are very cautious not to take credit for it in those releases,” Kingston spokesman Chris Crawford said.