You're Screwing Everything Up

UPDATE: Leaving aside some room for hope that this is more gimmick than policy, Krugman’s headline says it all: “Obama Liquidates Himself.” Biden’s economic advisor tried to justify the announcement on Maddow last night; video here.

Obama is trying to pivot out of the Scott Brown disaster by embracing Hoovernomics: a three-year aggregate spending freeze that is arguably worse than the across-the-board freeze McCain supported, and Obama campaigned against, in 2008. At least McCain’s version would have frozen the military budget too; this version only cuts the federal spending people actually need. As I tweeted, the only way promising a spending freeze makes sense is if it’s what the House Blue Dogs need to pass health care—and really only then if they all know it’s a lie. If this is intended to be real policy, it’s moronic, and potentially disastrous. 1937 already happened once. The only upside is that the promise barely means anything.

What the hell are these people thinking?