Restitutor Orbis

The Denver Post reports that President Obama signed the stimulus bill into law today in Denver, the city where the Democratic National Convention was held.

"We're putting Americans to work doing the work that America needs done in critical areas that have been neglected too long," Obama said before a crowd of about 250 people at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. "We are remaking the American landscape."

And Obama is keeping busy. "Just after 3 p.m., Obama departed from Buckley Air Force Base aboard Air Force One. His next stop is Phoenix, where tomorrow he will address the housing crisis."

How much good it will do, now that the GOP has gutted it of its most useful features, only time will tell. Nobody is expecting immediately relief. And everyone is in agreement that it's going to get worse before it gets better. The sad thing is that this is only the first step. It will take more than this single package to right the boat and the Republicans will obstruct every bill that does not consist almost entirely of tax cuts for the rich. I really hope the American people have awoken and remember this betrayal by the GOP come 2010. Speaking of which...

Let's look at something really vile and disgusting. It is well known that only three Republicans voted for the stimulus. Those three have a right to appreciate openly what Obama is trying to do. The others, obviously, are hypocrities if they do. That, however, does not stop them according to this report:

Rep. John Mica was gushing after the House of Representatives voted Friday to pass the big stimulus plan.

"I applaud President Obama's recognition that high-speed rail should be part of America's future," the Florida Republican beamed in a press release.

Yet Mica had just joined every other GOP House member in voting against the $787.2 billion economic recovery plan.

But Mica wasn't alone in touting what he saw as the bill's virtues. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, also had nice things to say in a press release.

Young boasted that he "won a victory for the Alaska Native contracting program and other Alaska small business owners last night in H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act."

One provision would have made it harder for minority businesses to win contracts, and Young explained that he "worked with members on the other side of the aisle to make the case for these programs, and was able to get the provision pulled from the bill."

Their justification is as flimsy as their morals:

Mike Steel, a spokesman for House GOP Leader John Boehner of Ohio, at first ducked when asked about Mica and Young issuing press releases praising the bill they'd opposed.

"I don't work for Mica or Young," Steel said initially.

But then he explained that what Mica and Young did in touting aspects of the bill was in fact consistent with the Republican message.

"Being supportive of one portion of a trillion dollar bill, but voting against the entire trillion dollar bill, is perfectly reasonable," Steel said.