I’ve been a fan of Megan McArdle’s since way back in ’02, when we blogged using nothing more complicated than an abacus, smoke signals, and a well-trained chimp. (Don’t ask exactly how that worked — my memory has dimmed through the years.) So it’s not without some small amount of disappointment that I read this from her:
Having defended Obama’s candidacy largely on his economic team, I’m having serious buyer’s remorse. Geithner, who is rapidly starting to look like the weakest link, is rattling around by himself in Treasury. Meanwhile, the administration is clearly prioritized a stimulus package that will not work without fixing the banks over, um, fixing the banking system. Unlike most fiscal conservatives, I’m not mad at him for trying to increase the size of the government; that’s, after all, what he got elected promising to do. But he also promised to be non-partisan and accountable, and the size and composition stimulus package looks like just one more attempt to ram through his ideological agenda without much scrutiny, with the heaviest focus on programs that will be especially hard to cut.
Honestly, Megan — there’s any shock at all that this is the behavior you’re getting out of a politician? When McCain campaigned as a social conservative and a fiscal UFO, at least I kept the courage of my convictions and voted for Bob Barr.
I have a nasty case of Loser’s Remorse, but everybody suffers that from time to time. Buyer’s Remorse, however, I would hope comes with a wet, hacking Cough of Shame.
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