BrianGarst.com

Here’s a story in the news today, see if you can spot the disconnect:

President Barack Obama pressed congressional leaders to reach a consensus on an $825 billion stimulus plan, warning the country may be facing an “unprecedented” economic crisis.

Obama said that, while there are “some differences” between his administration and lawmakers on the details, the legislation is “on target” for passage by mid-February.

“We are experiencing an unprecedented, perhaps, economic crisis that has to be dealt with,” Obama said as he began a meeting with nine Democratic and Republican leaders at the White House, his first such session with lawmakers since taking office.

Each day brings “greater focus on the problems that we’re having, not only in terms of job loss but also in terms of some of the instabilities in the financial system,” he said.

…Obama also criticized the way some companies getting federal bailouts are spending their money, and he said stricter accountability will be part of any future assistance.

Without citing any individual or company, Obama said recent reports “about companies that have received taxpayer assistance, and then going out and renovating bathrooms, or offices, or other ways not managing those dollars appropriately” show the need for more scrutiny.

John Thain, the former Merrill Lynch & Co. chief executive officer ousted yesterday, spent $1.2 million redecorating his downtown Manhattan office last year as the company was firing employees, a person familiar with the project said.

So let’s see if I can understand this.  We need almost a trillion dollars to “stimulate” the economy. Well, isn’t buying furniture stimulating?  Isn’t giving work to carpenters and delivery workers exactly the kind of demand stimulus the Keynesians say we need to revive the economy?

Merrill Lynch is just doing its duty to turn around the economy!  It’s rather disingenuous for Obama to complain about how they are spending taxpayer dollars when he proposes to do the exact same thing on a much more massive scale.

Barack Obama