Ignoring deficits: Extending the "stimulus"

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen continues blindly carrying water (or, more accurately, sacks of IOUs to China) for the Obama administration.

The administration and Sen. Harry Reid have been pressing senators to vote for a bill craftily titled the "American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act." The New York Times characterized it as a "package of tax breaks, safety-net spending and tax increases on the affluent."

Sen. Shaheen is all for it. "This legislation before us will create jobs, it will increase demand for goods and services, and it will provide stability for Americans who have lost their jobs during this recession," she told the Times two weeks ago. Then, as an afterthought, she added, "I, too, believe we must get back on a path to a balanced budget, but the best way to do that is to get this economy moving again."

Funny thing is, the Democratic Party has other senators who aren't so gullible. When the Times quoted Shaheen supporting the bill on June 9, it reported the price tag at $140 billion. Last week, the cost was down to $110 billion. To win the votes of Democrats worried about the deficit (or about their re-elections), party leaders have been trimming it. Even so, several Democratic senators still oppose it. Not Shaheen. She could have demanded that the bill be deficit-neutral. But she just plays the good little girl and supports what she's told to.

And despite the talking points Shaheen parrots, the bill isn't about creating jobs. It's about raising taxes and extending federal "stimulus" spending. Tax hikes and borrowing to continue the failed stimulus? Yep, Jeanne Shaheen's all for that. (Reps. Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter voted for a smaller but still deficit-enlarging version of the bill in December.) Controlling the deficit? That can come later.