McCain is Right on the Economy

Link. There. I thought I'd never hear myself say that. And, okay, he is not very right--but even a little right is a stretch.

I mean--okay, forget all that stuff about "making tax cuts permanent;" the Republican mantra is that we never have to pay for anything, ever, and that does not deserve to be taken seriously.

But payroll taxes--isn't he right that if we really want to get money back into the economy quickly, then a payroll tax about the fastest way to do it? I mean, short of firing off a cannon full of dollar bills?

Flip side: yes, yes, I know the Republicans are engaged in a lot of inspired silliness about wasteful spending. But at tne end of the day, we are going to find that a whole lot of the "stimulus" spending has nothing to do with "stimulus" at all (can you say "Washington Mall"?).

I'ts beginning to sink in on me that each side of this equation can screw things up in its own way: Republicans, by cutting the wrong taxes, Democrats, by pushing the wrong spending. Either way, it is looking more and more like a little economic ice age, and it may last for quite a while.

Afterthought: Does John Boehner think he is going to make points by attacking the public funding of condoms? Isn't there a good chance that that will turn out to be the one universally popular in the whole package?