Balance of Power

And unlike other cases, where Republicans say Democrats have been attributing stimulus ideas to them when the ideas weren’t actually theirs, Cantor’s aides confirm that he suggested the transparency measures to Obama when congressional leaders from both parties met with him on Capitol Hill at the beginning of the year.

But it’s a telling example, because it’s not like it would be any great sell to get Obama to agree to transparency measures. Open government has been perhaps the one most consistent theme of his political career, from the “Google for government” law he co-authored with Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma in 2006 — setting up a database that tracks federal grants and loans — to the open-records directives he issued on his first full day as president.

The story is consistent with the observation state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Illinois, one of Obama’s most frequent Republican partners on legislation in the Illinois Senate, once made about Obama’s bipartisan work: It usually came on issues that don’t split along traditional party lines, like open government.

Gibbs mentioned other stimulus provisions he claimed were suggested by Republicans, such as reducing taxes for businesses with net operating losses. But the way Cantor and other Republican leaders have talked, those won’t win their support unless there are more significant changes Republicans can cite as victories.

“You’ll have to have key Republican concepts embedded in the legislation” to get a significant number of Republican votes in the Senate, Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona told reporters today.

And if not, Republicans can always keep casting “no” votes and bragging about their unity.