Mike Pence takes stimulus hypocrisy to a new level

Back in February, Representative Mike Pence issued a statement:

One year later, one thing is clear: the stimulus bill has failed. One year later, not one net job has been created as unemployment rose from 7.6 percent to nearly 10 percent nationwide. Mr. President, millions of Americans are asking, “where are the jobs?”

But this weekend, Mike Pence was advertising those same jobs he claimed didn’t exist, and celebrating them on his official House website with photos and a statement:

“With 70 businesses and 1,200 citizens in attendance, this year’s job fair was an outstanding success,” Pence said.

You see, those employers were hiring Hoosiers with the money from the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act that Mike Pence loves to demonize.

At least 16 of the 65 companies at the job fair received funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, including Ball State University — the location of the job fair — and at least three more benefited indirectly from the stimulus. The impact the stimulus had on those employers was varied. Brevini Wind USA, Inc. of Yorktown, Indiana benefited greatly, receiving $12.75 million to open a new manufacturing facitlity that will produce parts for wind turbine manufacturers.

In fact, during the job fair, Mike Pence – who claims to “love teachers” – was railing against a bill that would save the jobs of 3,600 Hoosier teachers.

(And just because Mike Pence can’t only be wrong about one thing at a time, an analysis of the economic impact of ARRA showed that most of the jobs it saved were, in fact, teachers.)

While Mike Pence might want to take credit for the benefits of a plan he opposed, national Democrats weren’t willing to let this one go without a fight.

But Democrats say Pence’s job fair is yet another example of Republicans taking credit for jobs created by the stimulus while at the same time criticizing the program. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee called the House Republican leadership “blatant hypocrites.”

“If such blatant hypocrites like Mike Pence, Eric Cantor, and John Boehner had their way, the jobs in their districts that they’ve been trying to take credit for wouldn’t even be there,” DCCC spokesperson Ryan Rudominer said.