Quit pouting over stimulus package

One of the Republican leaders in Congress has appeared on several TV news programs crying crocodile tears over the $850 billion economic recovery bill and lamenting that "it's the taxpayers' money." The man should bite his tongue in shame and go stand in the corner.

Republicans love to point righteous fingers at their Democratic counterparts and repeat the mantra of "tax and spend liberals." Yet, during the Bush presidency, a spendthrift Republican Congress managed to transform a seldom seen budget surplus into a trillion-dollar-plus deficit.

President Obama has reached out to Republicans and invited their input on the plans to stimulate a turnaround in our economy. Their response has been mostly a rote chant of the call for more tax cuts. In the midst of a scary recession, many Americans would use such dollars only to pay off bills or stash away for emergencies.

The Obama team is going to do some stumbling and fumbling in their efforts to give our economy a jump-start. But if not every shot is a bull's-eye, at least they are aiming in the right direction. Republicans in Congress owe it their constituents to quite pouting, put party pettiness aside and seek to help rather than hinder this crucial process.

Dan McGuire

Bensenville