Dems Preen as GOP Postures
But while we're at it, let's note the difference between grandstanding and hypocrisy.
When it comes to the former, the Democrats are in a league of their own. Starting bright and early on the east coast, the administration began pounding away at the message du jour: If it weren't for the stimulus, there'd be Hoovervilles all across the country. "Our work is far from over but we have rescued this economy from the worst of this crisis," the president said.
Based on the data, that may very well be true - gross domestic product, which fell at a 6.4 percent annual rate at the start of 2009, climbed 5.4 percent during the last quarter. But even the president and his cabinet can't say whether the economy will be able to motor on its own power once the effect of the current stimulus wears off.
Watching from the sidelines, the American public is still wondering whether this marks progress or just muddling through. For good reason, too, considering that official unemployment remains just below 10%. In fact, only 6 percent of Americans believe that the stimulus spending has created jobs, according to a recent CBS News/New York Times poll.
Meanwhile, Republicans marked the day by putting out a video that essentially was a compilation of GOP best hits from the last year, along with a report from House Minority Leader John Boehner's press office outlining what it called "the Democrats' broken promises and wasteful spending."
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell chimed in with the view that "in the first year of the trillion-dollar stimulus, Americans have lost millions of jobs, the unemployment rate continues to hover near 10 percent, the deficit continues to soar and we're inundated with stories of waste, fraud and abuse."
Of course, that pious concern hasn't prevented McConnell or many of his GOP colleagues from trying to claim credit when their districts directly benefited from funding provided by the bill. (Check out this videothe Democrats put together, calling out some of the more amusing contrasts between what some politicians say and what they do.
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NPR put together a nice feature showing how the stimulus affected a physician assistant, a youth outreach program and a wind turbine plant.