"Our economy needs to get going," said John Boehner moments ago. And this, Mr. Boehner added, the economy now can do, since the heroic speaker banishes dreaded "uncertainty" through the debt deal.
Yes, millions of jobs will flower through new hiring, even though there remains for business an absence of augmented consumer demand, and now (maybe) even less government spending.
This leaves any literate student of economic history speechless. The macroeconomic effect of cutting government spending while in an economic rut is as empirically predictable as a balanced budget amendment is idiotic; the additional job losses can be precalculated with frightening accuracy.
Which of course is what John Boehner knows -- he's not as stupid as he sounds -- and trusts the electorate will never figure out.
Forget rugged individualism. We're just ruggedly imbecilic.