It’s about 3 months to the midterms, which means one thing: free entertainment for political junkies. The economy is going to be a big issue in these elections, and the wisdom and efficacy of the $787 billion stimulus passed in 2009 is going to be a big economic policy question. To quote a prescient observer from early last year:
If the 2010 economy is strong, for whatever reason, Democrats are likely to do well, and Republicans poorly, irrespective of the outcome of the “stimulus” debate. On the other hand, a weak economy will profit the Republicans, but only to the extent they can offer a coherent critique of the Democrat handling of the economy.
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If the “stimulus” passes over Republican objections, Republicans in 2010 can blame the … weak economy on Democrat policies; this message will be consistent with their earlier opposition to the “stimulus” plan. This is the “we told you so” scenario.
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If the “stimulus” is defeated because of Republican opposition (i.e. a filibuster) then Democrats will be able to blame Republican obstructionism for the weak state of the economy.
I see that Democrats are now bravely attempting to spin the first scenario into the second; VP Biden is claiming that “the Recovery Act was undersized because the White House shrunk the economic stimulus package to win Republican votes in Congress to pass it.” (That’s a quote from the Politico story, not Biden himself.) That’s … well, I guess you have to do the best you can with a bad situation. I don’t think the “$787 billion just wasn’t enough dammit!” line is going to fly, though.
