Stimulus For Failure
Obama's biggest "success" looks shaky
Vice President Joseph Biden's comments about the administration "misreading" the economy calls into question decisions on the fiscal stimulus package -- and prospects for a second one.
It never looks good when one politician accuses another of lying -- and not in the politically correct way they usually employ. No, "the gentleman exaggerates" kind of stuff. Nope, House Republican Leader John Boehner made perfectly clear what he meant in talking about Vice President Joe Biden:
“I found it ... interesting over the last couple of days to hear Vice President Biden and the president mention the fact that they didn’t realize how difficult an economic circumstance we were in,” Boehner said. “Now this is the greatest fabrication I have seen since I’ve been in Congress.”
“I’ve sat in meetings in the White House with the vice president and the president. There’s not one person that sat in those rooms that didn’t understand how serious our economic crisis was,” Boehner said.
This is an easy math equation: F-word ("fabrication") = L-word ("lying"). It's also a little bit surprising given the relative status of both men. Boehner is the head of the minority party in the House, whereas Biden is, well, vice-president. VP isn't the top job, but it still holds a certain amount of deference -- or should.
But, it's pretty clear that Boehner thinks that he's on some sure footing. And why shouldn't he? After all, President Obama in an interview for American audiences that he gave while in Russia had to -- again -- dial back Biden's rhetoric. Obama disputed Biden's characterization that the administration had "misread" the economy; he called it "incomplete information." When the president openly disagrees with his VP, that gives the opposition an opening to jump through. Boehner took it.
The bigger problem Obama and company face though does revolve around the stimulus. Whether it's Biden's "misread" line or congressional Democrats (and administration officials) openly debating whether a second stimulus is necessary, these are obvious signals that Democrats are worried that the economy hasn't turned around fast enough. Right now, it looks like the first stimulus was either not big enough -- or hasn't worked. And so, the scramble has begun to come up with an answer. It's too soon to say whether there is panic, but in politics, the next election is never too far away.
The reasoning goes that if the unemployment numbers don't turn around by the end of the year, Republicans will be energized and Democrats will be on the defensive during all of 2010.
And so, Democrats are already sweating that their economic plan has failed -- and Republicans (like John Boehner) are sensing the fear.
New York writer Robert A. George blogs at Ragged Thots. Follow him on Twitter.
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Posted Tuesday, Jul 14, 2009 - 1:07 AM EST
