Sponsored Content
« Lionesses in the Military | Main | Protesters Being Hanged in Iran? »
July 01, 2009

NYT Spins Madly for Obama on Economy, Optimistic Predictions

Caught by James Pethokoukis:

Here are two possible explanations that the administration was so wrong. And sorting through them matters a great deal, because they point in opposite policy directions. The first explanation is that the economy has deteriorated because the stimulus package failed. Some critics say that stimulus just doesn’t work, while others argue that this particular package was too small or too badly constructed to make a difference. The second answer is that the economy has deteriorated in spite of the stimulus. In other words, the patient is not as sick as he would have been without the medicine he received. But he is a lot sicker than doctors realized when they prescribed it. To me, the evidence is fairly compelling that the second answer is the right one.

Well of course it is, darling.

Pethokoukis doesn't buy the Times' spin.

It’s not so much that a more negative forecast would have prevented Obama from spending large amounts of money, it’s that he would have been forced to tilt the stimulus more in favor of tax cuts which work a lot of faster than government spending (though both are pretty inefficient as “stimulus”).

And the grand predictions for the magic the stimulus would work were also necessary on this score, because Obama was claiming his big-spending stimulus, and only his big-spending stimulus, would avert disaster.

Remember, too, how quickly this was cooked up in Nancy Pelosi's office and then rammed through Congress. A combination of sky-is-falling-claims coupled with outlandish predictions of how wonderfully the stimulus would work if we passed it now got the thing passed with minimum debate and scrutiny.

Seems to be a pattern developing here.


digg this
posted by Ace at 12:20 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
Deplorable Jay Guevara[/i][/s][/b] : "The prescription is proscription. Lists, that is. ..."

Warai-otoko: "How the holy fuck does one flunk out of divinity s ..."

Skip : "See if I can find some motivation ..."

Gentlemen, this is junta manifest: "A song for mattress girl https://www.youtube.co ..."

ShainS -- Oppression Scientist and Your AI Interpreter [/b][/i][/s][/u]: "Biden Administration Announces Additional Security ..."

Captain Obvious, Laird o' the Sea, Radioactive Knight: "But was always adept at getting his Chakras "re-al ..."

Deplorable Jay Guevara[/i][/s][/b] : "Matress girl (Emma Sulkowicz) article from 2019: ..."

Maj. Healey: ">>219 idk, but Ryan McBeth has a video on damage b ..."

polynikes: "Algore successfully flunked out of law AND divinit ..."

Warai-otoko: "The prescription is proscription. Lists, that is. ..."

jim (in Kalifornia): "218 Not quite as impressive as the 'D' grade that ..."

Lola - ALL the 1/6 videotapes from Jade, too.: ""Arson" concerning the hundreds of Canadian wildfi ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64