Topeka ? U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Topeka, on Monday described the new federal stimulus package as a “long, liberal, wish list.”

Speaking to Americans for Prosperity-Kansas, Jenkins, whose 2nd Congressional District includes west Lawrence, added, “The Democrats in Congress are on a reckless spending spree with your money, and it has got to stop.”

She said the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which she and all other House Republicans voted against, was loaded with pet projects.

She cited $8 billion for railroads, which “included funding a railroad between Las Vegas and Los Angeles so that Californians could gamble, which, ironically, is what got us into this trouble to begin with.”

She later accused Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., of making sure “that his railroad between Vegas and Los Angeles was included in there. Of course, that’s not the whole $8 billion, but his project is included in there.”

But such a project is not included in the bill. The $8 billion is for high-speed rail corridors and intercity passenger rail service. The bill makes no mention of specific routes, leaving much of the oversight to the secretary of transportation.