Noam Scheiber asks whether, in an effort to attract substantial Republican support, Obama is aiming for too low a dollar amount ($675-$775 billion over 24 months) in his upcoming fiscal stimulus package.
I’m torn on this. As Noam points out, that looks to be a starting point at the low end of what most economists think is necessary, leaving treacherously little safe room to negotiate down. And everything about our recent history and current predicament tells me we have to be bold and aggressive, on policy and politics. But I’ve always had a weakness for One Nation politics; so I’m not willing to discount the possibility that Obama reshuffle the deck politically, operate under a different calculus.
