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GOP Lawmakers Hail Hated Stimulus

Republicans crow about projects they like in bill they loathed

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 14, 2009 3:17 AM CST

(Newser) – Republican lawmakers aren't letting the fact they opposed the stimulus bill stop them from bragging now that it's passed, McClatchy Newspapers reports. A press release from Alaska Rep. Don Young boasted that he had won a victory for the state's small business owners in the bill's final version, but the lawmaker later blasted the bill as a "vehicle for pet projects."

Florida Rep. John Mica applauded “President Obama's recognition that high-speed rail should be part of America's future," in a press release, omitting the fact that he voted against it. A GOP spokesman said Mica saw the rail project as a "silver lining" in the stimulus, and argued that it was perfectly reasonable to support some parts of "a trillion-dollar" bill while being against the whole.

House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, right, and Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., prepare to meet with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Feb. 13, 2009. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee member Rep. John Mica, (R-Fl.) has spoken enthusiastically about a high-speed rail project in the stimulus bill. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)

Republican Congressional leaders talk to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Friday, Jan. 23, 2009, after a meeting with President Barack Obama to discuss the economy. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

A copy of the stimulus legislation on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Feb. 13, 2009, after the House voted to pass the legislation. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)

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GOP Lawmakers Hail Hated Stimulus

Republicans crow about projects they like in bill they loathed

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On Stimulus, White House Kept Congress Close

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