GOP Plans to Police Stimulus Fraud, Earmark Requests

As House and Senate Republicans return to their low-tax and limited-spending roots, top officials say that they will be shining a spotlight on big taxes, congressional earmarks, and stimulus spending fraud through the next election in 2010. These are issues they hope to use to hammer Democrats. "We'll have an opportunity to talk about this for the next 18 months," said House Minority Leader John Boehner.

He even suggested that before the money is spent, "a lot more Americans won't be happy with it."

The GOP effort began today when Boehner's communications chief E-mailed a Boston Globe story detailing earmarks requested by Massachusetts members. And other GOP aides said that they have been tasked to keep tabs in the local press on spending misuses in the stimulus and Democratic tax plans.

Democrats, meanwhile, say that they are also getting ready for potentially bad stories about stimulus spending, one reason why they have lined up behind President Obama's stern demand that state, county, and local authorities spend frugally and legally.

• Read more on Stimulus Watch.