New Dem Campaign Brands Stimulus Critics as ‘Highway Hypocrites’

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) joined others in her party in voting against the stimulus before praising its local impact. (Photo: Seattle Times)

As more media outlets note the phenomenon of GOP lawmakers who voted against the Obama administration's economic stimulus law before seeking -- and taking credit for winning -- a share of its infrastructure money, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is seizing an opening to tag its opponents as two-faced.

The DNC launched a "Highway Hypocrites" website today that asks voters to research whether their local representative is among those who blasted the stimulus in Washington before touting its value outside the Beltway.

But the system is flawed: those who provide address information to the DNC are only told whether their member of Congress voted for or against the stimulus, not whether they opposed it before returning home and stumping for transportation recovery money.

The names of the Republicans who played both ends of the stimulus debate are available in a research report released last month by bloggers at Think Progress, an affiliate of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.