Ohio businesses that got stimulus money support Republicans who blasted the program

[OhioChick]

Sunday, October 21, 2012, 8:48 AM

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In the northeastern suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, lies a paradise of a shopping center -- a faux urban-style retail mecca that, its owners say, draws at least 21 million buyers, browsers, movie-goers and diners a year.

Easton Town Center's mix of tenants, tilting toward the upscale, is a landlord's dream, from Tiffany and Burberry to Macy's and Nordstrom to the Cheesecake Factory. The center's developers, led by Limited Brands chairman Leslie Wexner and retail designer Yaromir Steiner, are among the most respected and savvy in the retail business.

So after Congress passed its controversial economic stimulus bill in 2009 and President Barack Obama signed it, Easton Town Center did what many savvy businesses did nationwide. Through Steiner, it applied for stimulus money. Easton Town Center was awarded a $911,356 grant, primarily to install new, energy-efficient lighting in its parking garages.

The stimulus is hated by Republicans in Congress, running for Congress and running for the White House, including nearly all GOP officeholders in Ohio. They say it is wasteful, and that it put the government in the improper role of picking winners and losers in what should be a free-market economy.

More: http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2012/10/ohio_businesses_that_got_stimu.html

[Odin2005]

1. A lot of business owners are brainwashed by their local Chamber of Commerce.

[justiceischeap]

2. This kind of thing I blame on the Democratic party

we still aren't very good at getting our message and accomplishments out there.

[OldDem2012]

5. Why do you blame the Democratic Party for this?....

...What exactly do you believe the Democratic Party should be doing about this to get "our message and accomplishments out there" to halt what's being discussed in the article?

Think about it...the businesses know they have already received and spent the stimulus money, and they know their GOP reps are railing against it in Congress. And their reps know they took the money and prospered from it. Are the businesses going to give back the money? No. Are their GOP reps going to make them give back the money? No. They all know the game that's being played, and they don't care as long as they continue to get their tax cuts.

[liberal N proud]

3. Hypocrisy is a core republican value.

They see no problem with it either.

[Ninga]

4. Yep, front page above the fold. n/t