Conservatives tell us virtually every day that government can't create jobs and that public investments in the economy don't have much effect on employment. That was the core of their argument against the federal stimulus bill, that it was a waste of money and would not help local economies.

That's why Republicans like Senator Richard Burr and conservative Democrats like Congressman Heath Shuler voted against it, though they both sang a different tune when it came time to talk about specific projects.

Burr showed up in Alexander County last fall to present a $2 million check from the federal government to a local fire department to build a new station. The money came from the federal stimulus package that Burr railed against. Shuler was among a group of members of Congress who wrote to the Obama Administration seeking funding for a highway bridge the group said would create or sustain 900 jobs.

Congresswoman Sue Myrick routinely blasted the stimulus plan in Washington but later said it would be ‘a critical step in bringing economic opportunities to my congressional district."

Much of that hypocrisy has been reported, though it's worth mentioning again as the debate about the stimulus resurfaces as part of the fall political campaigns. Some politicians can't let go of their talking points, even when the facts and their own statements contradict them.

And it's not just on the federal level. Various media outlets reported this week that Thomas Built Buses plans to begin laying off more than 200 workers at the end of the month, citing a reduction in orders as one of the reasons.

States across the country are delaying new school bus purchases as they struggle to address huge budget shortfalls and North Carolina is no exception. Lawmakers saved $12 million this session by putting off buying more buses.

The news of the impending layoffs in High Point prompted Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger to blast the Democratic legislative leadership for costing North Carolina jobs. Berger pointed to the defeat of a Republican amendment during the budget debate that would have restored the school bus money by cutting funding for electronic handheld diagnostic tools in classrooms, a proposal from Governor Beverly Perdue.

There's nothing wrong with a public debate about the devices or the wisdom of delaying school bus purchases, but for Berger and his Republican colleagues to use the loss of jobs as a basis for criticism is almost as ridiculous as blasting the federal stimulus package and then cutting the ribbon on a project it paid for.

Berger's comments on the decision to cut the school bus money out of the budget means that he knows that public investment is an economic engine that creates jobs—or in this case could have saved them.

That's what most government spending does, creates jobs and provides services that not only helps people or educates kids but plays a major role in the economy. A simpler way to put it might be to say that government spending acts as an economic stimulus. And slashing that spending, especially during an economic downturn, costs people their jobs, people in High Point and everywhere else in North Carolina.

Berger's right. Lawmakers should be careful about reducing public investments. Time to revise his talking points.