Joe Biden's Whopper

Joe Biden routinely says outrageous things, often to the embarrassment of Barack Obama.

Biden recently said that the Obama administration underestimated the extent of the recession, and by doing so, undersized the "stimulus" plan.

Although it is tempting to think Biden spoke carelessly, as he often does, in this case I suspect this might be a trial balloon, to test the notion of a second "stimulus" bill.

But on substantive grounds, Biden's comment is astounding. When is $787 billion in "stimulus", and nearly $2 trillion in deficits, anything other than massive "stimulus" in the eyes of those who believe such actions stimulate the economy?

Recall that the recessions in the 1980-1982 period had higher unemployment than today, but the government had no "stimulus" plans passed, other than the real stimulus of Ronald Reagan's tax cuts later in that period.

And it is true that this wasted government spending is not that helpful, and is often hurtful, to economic recovery. But that argues for different steps, such as cutting tax rates and passing free trade bills, to promote economic growth.

It also suggest that the Obama administration realized the "stimulus" bill was more about satisfying Democrats' desire to pay off constituents than stimulus, since they didn't believe the economy would do all that badly.