During the debate over the stimulus, one provision that Republicans latched onto and nagged to death allocated $200 million to renovating the National Mall, including $21 million for resodding. We’re not going to throw money away just so Queen Pelosi can walk to work without getting her heels dusty! So President Obama, in his effort to woo Republican support, had it taken out of the bill, which no Republicans ended up voting for anyway. Now Glenn Thrush at Politico is reporting that House Minority Leader John Boehner is sending around a petition, via his leadership PAC, calling for volunteers to resod the Mall. So the Mall does need to be resodded, but wait — isn’t the point of all this stimulus business to create jobs, not just give them away to already-employed people looking to get some exercise?
Boehner puts his grass on the line [Politico]
