Leftward lurch or world-class flapdoodle: Some days it's hard to tell which better describes the Obama economic plan -- though, to be fair, a degree of flapdoodlery inheres in any socialist economic model.
Remember when Mr. Obama said as president-elect that the focus of his jobs plan would be "not always getting it right, but projecting a sense of confidence and a willingness to try things and experiment ..."?
We've since painfully learned that "not always" means "not once." (For further reading, see "stimulus.") But more worrisome still, the president's homage to confidence and experimentation over substance and results seems to extend to the rest of his economic agenda as well.
Now he wants to slap new taxes on banks to recover more of the money that some of them got from Congress (with the help of his Senate vote) via the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. The banks were bailed out -- by unwilling taxpayers, it should be noted -- over fear and anger about their potential collapse, and now their return to profitability has the administration equally miffed. They're fat cats, the president rails, and it's time to put them on a diet of kibble and water.
It's moments such as these when somebody ought to ask the secretary of the White House Office of Unintended Consequences to come back from the vacation he started on Inauguration Day.
Let's see: We tax banks -- including those that have repaid their bailout funds and those that never got any -- to teach them a lesson against engaging in irresponsible lending practices. (Never mind that Washington encouraged those, shall we say, creative practices to fix a housing market that cruelly discriminated against people with lousy credit.)
The new taxes leave the banks less cash to lend in an economy where credit is already tight, clamping down on the very economic investment we need to create jobs.
At the same time, the president complains that the banks now are entirely too cautious about lending money.
But wait a sec. Wasn't risky lending -- promoted by the government's bone-headed assumption of that risk through Fannie Mae -- what got us into the recession?
The president sees no contradiction in punishing careless lending while demanding more of it.
If you're unsure whether confusion or alarm is the appropriate emotion at this juncture, go to the head of the class: Mr. Obama is creating, or reinforcing, the perception that he's just making up policy as he goes.
If he thinks threats and more economic uncertainty will get banks to loosen up credit or persuade Americans to invest their money rather than sit tight and see what peachy dictate he hands down next, he's overdue for a refreshing swim in the waters of Lake Disappointment.
Critical Mass.
A few points on the special election this Tuesday to fill the seat of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy:
* A poll of likely voters notes that those who are "extremely interested" in the race between conservative upstart Scott Brown and "progressive" seat-filler Martha Coakley are evenly divided. So even in hyper-liberal Massachusetts, the conservative has a shot among those who are paying attention.
* At this writing, the administration has repeatedly said the president will not come to Mrs. Coakley's aid in her surprisingly difficult race -- which, for the record, she is still likely to win given the 3-to-1 Democrat edge in Massachusetts. In lieu of Mr. Obama, Bill Clinton will spread campaign sunshine around the Bay State. But whatever the outcome, it's remarkable that the president's popularity has dipped such that he fears the negative effect he could have by venturing even into friendly, left-wing Massachusetts on behalf of a struggling candidate.
* If Mr. Brown should manage an upset, Democrats plan to block him from taking his seat until Congress can get ObamaCare passed. Ironically, ObamaCare is modeled on Massachusetts' 4-year-old socialized medical system, which is bankrupting the state, causing months-long waits to see a family doctor, and driving up spending. What better way to conceal such a catastrophe than to spread it across the nation?
The Buffy Brigade
Kiffin? Kippy?
For the love of lima beans, is that a coaching roster or a prep school roll call?
To reach Steve Barrett, call 423-757-6329 or e-mail sbarrett@timesfreepress.com.