When the massive $787 billion economic stimulus bill became the first major piece of legislation enacted under the new presidency of Barack Obama, it cleared Congress without much help from the Republican minority. Not a single GOP House member voted for the bill and it received only three votes from GOP senators, including one from a then-Republican senator who has since become a Democrat.

But Republicans who sharply criticized the stimulus package as being irresponsibly expensive are putting their opposition to the bill aside and accepting millions of dollars from it.

Some Democrats are criticizing Republicans for being so eager to spend the money they opposed, saying the GOP can’t have it both ways. Yes, it can, and if the shoe were on the other foot, Democrats would be doing the same thing.

As we see it, every American taxpayer is helping pay for the stimulus package and the payments will extend into the next generation. When the GOP united in opposing the stimulus package, it was a matter of principle. When the stimulus package became the law of the land, the issue shifted from being one of principle to one of helping the folks back home with needed projects.