Obama Takes Veiled Shot At GOP Governors

President Obama took a jab at Republican governors Monday, ABC News reports, suggesting some of their public criticism of the stimulus has more to do with politics than policy.

"I just want to make sure that we're having an honest debate," the president said, reacting to recent public TV appearances by GOP governors.

Some Republican state leaders have denounced parts of the stimulus and suggested that they will not take all of the money offered because of the strings attached. Mark Sanford of South Carolina and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana have been particularly vocal in their objections.

"I don't want us to...get caught up in the same old stuff that prevents us" from accomplishing something for the American people, the president said.

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"If we agree on 90 percent of this stuff and are spending all our time on television arguing about one, two, three percent of the spending ... that starts sounding more like politics," the president said. "There will be ample time for campaigns down the road." ABC News called the comment "a not-so-veiled reference" to those Governors, Jindal in particular, who are considered 2012 contenders.