Academic

LIKE SWEARING OFF THE BOTTLE WHEN YOU?RE HUNG OVER? Obama to Propose Three-Year Spending Freeze. ?

By Glenn Reynolds

LIKE SWEARING OFF THE BOTTLE WHEN YOU’RE HUNG OVER? Obama to Propose Three-Year Spending Freeze.

A gimmick, anyway: “The freeze would only shave about $15 billion off of the next budget, the Post reports.”

UPDATE: Tone Deafness In The White House. “While the goal is to ostensibly short circuit the attacks of the populists, what it does in effect is strengthen them. Where money flowed freely to well-connected financial institutions and pet projects of the President’s allies in Congress, now with unemployment in double digits, with the economy still bleeding jobs, President Obama is suggesting, we’re going to freeze government spendinging. Toughing it out is apparently for the little people, just like taxes and regulation.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Matt Welch: “Three quick reactions: 1) Great! 2) Note that this is actually more modest than what Obama repeatedly promised on the campaign trail, including after the financial crisis hit: a ‘net spending cut.’ Excluding defense is a recipe for falling short of that ‘net.’ 3) See Number 2, re: promises.”

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on January 25, 2010 (boomark / email).