Republicans Upset About Not Getting Stimulus Money They Opposed?

Not that Democrats can't be internally inconsistent or hypocritical, but here's a classic case from our Republican friends.

Virginia rail officials are disheartened that the state will only receive $75 million in federal stimulus funds for high-speed rail service.

“We’re disappointed,“ said Thelma Drake, director of the state’s Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

[...]

Virginia asked for $1.8 billion from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act to develop the portion of the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor between Petersburg and Washington.

In addition to Drake and others in the McDonnell administration, Republican blogger Norm Leahy says that "Uncle Sam stiffs Virginia on high speed rail," while Bearing Drift blasts Tim Kaine for "ineptitude and failure to deliver any measurable federal assistance to our state, despite being readily available." Of course, I'm a big supporter of rail and would love to have seen more money come to Virginia from the stimulus package. But, then again, I strongly supported the stimulus package (although I would have preferred it to have been larger and/or more focused on infrastructure investments like high-speed rail).

What I find amusing is to hear Republicans wail about wanting more money from a source they commonly blast as "socialist" and whatever other epithets they can conjure up. Of course, these are the same people now attacking cap and trade, even though they're the ones who came up with that idea back in the Reagan Administration (as a free-market approach to tackling acid rain pollution). They're also the same ones who pushed for an individual mandate (as opposed to an employer mandate) back in the 1990s, but now say that's evil incarnate. Finally, of course, we have Drake et al. upset that Virginia didn't get a lot more money from an economic stimulus package they despise. Got that? It apparently makes perfect sense using Republican logic.

P.S. Also recall this.

Virginia's Republican-run House of Delegates rejected a proposed expansion of unemployment benefits Wednesday, along with $125 million in federal stimulus cash to pay for it.

On a mostly party-line 46-53 vote, the House turned down amendments by Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine that were necessary to make Virginia eligible for the federal aid.