Iowa Republicans denounce stimulus bill, quietly push for funds

10.18.10

U.S. Rep. Steve King has described the federal stimulus bill as a “non-stimulating boondoggle of liberal pet-projects and wasteful spending.” And in February of 2009, he was joined by his fellow Iowa Republicans – U.S Rep. Tom Latham and Sen. Chuck Grassley in voting against the bill.

But that hasn’t stopped them scrambling to secure for their districts a slice of the $275 billion in competitive federal contracts, grants and loans included in the bill.

According to a cache of letters, obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, six of Iowa’s seven members of Congress, regardless of their stance on the stimulus, have promoted projects funded by the bill.

The bill, officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, allocated $787 billion to jumpstart a belabored economy and create roughly 3.5 million jobs.

A $1.9 billion chunk of that funding went to Iowa, and congressmen from both parties claimed kudos for bringing money and jobs to their districts – an action criticized by anti-spending groups and challengers in the mid-term elections.


breakdown by political party of each Iowan’s involvement (and more): http://iowaindependent.com/45477/iowa-republicans-denounce-stimulus-bill-quietly-push-for-funds

cache of letters, obtained by the Center for Public Integrity: http://www.publicintegrity.org/articles/entry/2532/#%21iowa

and, "Boondoggle"??

all the states that did this and ran them...I haven't seen any here, but then Paul Ryan isn't running this year...

stimulus. $1.9 Billion really helped out in Iowa.

In almost every state, evidence is emerging that lawmakers are advantaging their economies using the stimulus funding. Yet, there's been hay made out of appearing to stand against the spending. I'll bet these legislators will be more amenable to the money after the election . . . the next batch proposed will be more infrastructure-based and we all know that the roads bill is usually the most popular and the first to pass. I'd like to see more Democrats stand up and call out republicans who would have denied their states these vital dollars.

:thumbsup: