Barack does a Taro

After a string of costly bailout and stimulus measures, President Obama will set a goal this week to cut the annual deficit at least in half by the end of his term, administration officials said...NYT

Has Obama gone Aso? Aso made the absurd assertion a while back that Japan would be the first country out of recession. Everyone responded by giggling. Is Obama's plan not equally giggle-worthy?

Maybe Michael Kinsley is on to something:

But even if the stimulus is a magnificent success, the money still has to be paid back. The plan of record apparently is that we keep borrowing, spending and stimulating, faster and faster, until suddenly, on some signal from heaven or Timothy Geithner, we all stop spending and start saving in recordbreaking amounts. Oh sure, that will work.

There is another way. If it's not the actual, secret plan, it will be an overwhelming temptation: Don't pay the money back. Washington Post.

Kinsley, not being an economist, does not understand the magic behind how all this works and assumes that the US may use inflation to get rid of that debt. Good luck to those---China, Japan and others---who hold it. Giggle-giggle.