Sen. Jon Kyl
I guess Washington politics must be boring this week, as the Democratic National Committee is trying to rile things up by casting Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., as a blackhearted penny-pincher who wants to shut down jobs in Arizona. Kyl wrote in his weekly column about all of the recent news that President Barack Obama’s massive spending plan to boost the economy isn’t working out so well. Few actual jobs have been created and in many cases, the money hasn’t even been spent yet. In his conclusion, Kyl calls for canceling the rest of the stimulus program and stop adding to that massive federal debt.
The DNC went into a small tizzy, sending out a lengthy news release about the thousands of the jobs that Arizona will “lose” without the federal stimulus, primarily with highway construction contracts. Several politicos will seek to turn up the volume this afternoon with a telephone news conference that scheduled to include state Democratic Party executive director Luis Heredia, State Rep. Lynn Pancrazi, D-Yuma, and two Phoenix councilmen.
It’s unusual to kick over political anthills just because of a senator’s regular column, especially when that senator isn’t up for re-election.
But what is so silly about this is Kyl voted against the stimulus package to begin with, so his column really is a “I told you so” piece. He points to political polls that show more Americans are turning sour on the whole idea.
Democrats are just blowing hot air on this issue because Arizonans already know where Kyl stands, and that position is probably more popular today that it was back in January.
Update: Wow! The Democrats are putting some real energy in this. Now they have rushed out a video as well.
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