House Democrats and Republicans found a rare reason to spin together on Friday, holding a joint press conference to celebrate the cutting of economic stimulus rebate checks the week of April 28.

After days of berating Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for lacking a plan to address rising gas costs, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) joined with the Speaker to praise their bipartisan efforts.

Earlier Friday, President Bush announced that taxpayers will start receiving rebates on Monday, April 28.

“Because Congress has taken swift and bipartisan action on the economy, we were able to observe the fact that this week America’s families will be receiving their recovery rebate checks,” Pelosi said.

“In January, we passed economic stimulus legislation with recovery rebates for America’s families. In February, the president signed the legislation into law. This is just the beginning,” she vowed.

Pelosi said that the rebates will help families to address things such as the rising cost of gas. She praised Boehner’s efforts as being “essential” to getting the checks issued.

“This is a small step in the right direction,” said Boehner. “This is an example of how Congress and the administration can work together … without regard to party affiliation.”

Just a day earlier, however, Boehner sent a memo to GOP House candidates entitled, “The Pelosi Premium.” The document calls on GOP challengers to hold Democratic incumbents accountable for their failure to reveal a plan for addressing rising gas prices.

Last week, Pelosi did call on President Bush to suspend distributions to the Strategic Oil Reserve.

“Voters in your districts are now paying an average of $1.23 more for gasoline than they were at the start of the Democratic Majority. In many places, a gallon of gas is nearly $4. You could call it the ‘Pelosi Premium,’” it states.

The memo states that on April 24, 2006, Pelosi promised to implement “a commonsense plan” to address skyrocketing gas prices.

“But this plan has yet to materialize and gas costs more than ever. … I invite you to join me in marking two years of broken promises by calling on your opponents to finally reveal the “commonsense plan” they promised.

“It is irresponsible and dishonest for Democrats to promise a “commonsense plan” to bring down gas prices and not deliver.”

During an appearance Thursday night on the Glenn Beck Show, House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) continued blasting Pelosi for wasting time on other issues as the costs of gas continue to creep up.

“Last week, [Democrats spent a day debating] the beach bill. This week, they had a resolution [declaring that] this is going to be the year of the reef, R-E-E-F. If anything, the people of America want this to be the year of relief on their gas prices,” said Blunt.