Dems: Pence caught playing politics

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - GOP Congressman Mike Pence is under attack from Democrats who say he's a hypocrite for opposing the federal stimulus at the same time he is promoting jobs created by it.

It's because, in the view of Democrats, a job fair conducted by Pence on Tuesday conflicts with a position he took in a speech on the floor of the House that same day.

We found Pence in Anderson conducting a town hall meeting and talking about jobs, just as he was when he took the House floor to oppose the latest federal stimulus bill on Tuesday.

Then he said, "At this very hour more than a thousand Hoosiers are gathered at a job fair in my district. Some 65 companies have come together with a few cherished openings. My duty is here but to be honest with you I'd rather be there."

The job fair Pence sponsored at Ball State University included 16 companies that received stimulus funds. State Democratic Chairman Dan Parker says Pence is trying to have it both ways.

"So, on the one hand he blasts the dollars invested from the recovery act and then on the other hand he's promoting companies that actually received those and are actually creating jobs from the recovery act," said Parker.

24 Hour News 8's Jim Shella asked Pence, "Is it possible that some of the jobs that were offered on Tuesday were available because of the stimulus?"

Pence stammered, "Look, I don't...sure."

Despite that concession Pence doesn't retreat from his position. He says that a broader economic policy is required.

"It's clear that the stimulus bill has failed," he says. "Unemployment a year ago in Muncie was 12 percent. It's 12 percent today."

As for being called a hypocrite, Pence says it's just politics. It certainly won't affect his re-election bid because he's in a safe district.

But because Pence is one of the Republican leaders in the House, the Democrats hope to use him as an example.