An Alabama Congressman is seeking credit for a bill he opposed.
Rep. Gary Palmer, a Republican from Alabama, not only voted against the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package signed into law on Monday, but he also thrashed it as Democratic overreach that “simply expand[s] government control of our lives.”
Yet, Palmer sang a different tune in a Monday press release, praising a provision of the legislation that provides $369 million dollars for a highway that runs through his district.
In fact, Palmer said he “introduced” the funding for the Northern Beltline into the infrastructure package because it “has consistently been one of my top priorities.”
Palmer does not mention that he worked to kill the bill.
Rep. Chris England, a Democrat from Alabama, blasted Palmer’s hypocrisy on Twitter, but the duplicity is hardly surprising.
MSNBC notes that Rep. John Yarmuth, the Democratic chairman of the House Budget Committee, predicted earlier this year that Republicans would try to take credit for projects funded by legislation they voted against:
“What we are all concerned about on our side,” Yarmuth said, referring to Democrats, “is that the Republicans are all going to vote against this, and then they’re going to show up at every ribbon cutting, and at every project funded out of this bill, and they’re going to pump up their chests and take credit for all of these great benefits that are coming to their citizens.”
In a blog post, MSNBC’s Steve Benen concludes:
Either the new law is reckless socialism, or it’s poised to make worthwhile investments that will help a lot of people. Either Republicans are going to make the case against the package, or they’re going to celebrate the parts of it that benefit their constituents.
When the GOP tries to do both at the same time — just as the party did with the Recovery Act and the American Rescue Plan — Republicans shouldn’t be surprised when they get called out for their brazenness.
