President Barack Obama's stimulus bill was passed fewer than five months ago. Only a small fraction of the money has been spent, but Republicans already know it's a failure.
"The trillion-dollar stimulus passed in February has not produced the jobs that were promised," Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan said in a news release.
"I am convinced that it won't work," California Rep. Darrell Issa said on Capitol Hill.
"A second stimulus is an even worse idea than the first stimulus, which has been demonstrably proven to have failed," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters.
Republicans, of all people, are supposed to know instant gratification isn't always possible. Be patient, guys. Save yourselves for marriage.
More puzzling are similar sounds from Democrats, who in talking about a second stimulus package seem as if they're writing off the one they already passed like a Citigroup subprime mortgage.
"We need to be open to whether or not we need additional action," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said on Capitol Hill.
The country "should be planning on a contingency basis for a second round of stimulus," Obama economic adviser Laura Tyson told a conference in Singapore.
Don't pay much attention. Republicans just want to rile the base by damning helpful measures passed by their opponents.
Democrats are setting up excuses for next year's elections, when no matter what happens, the economy won't be making us all rich. It's not our fault, they'll say. The Republicans blocked a new stimulus.
But give the old stimulus a chance.
People keep grumping to me about Obama's "socialism" and then, in practically the same sentence, criticizing the paltry extra in their paycheck that the stimulus made possible.
"Thirty dollars a month. What a joke," they'll say, conjuring the old story of the Catskills resort customer who complains about the terrible food as well as the small portions.
Presumably for, say, $500 a month, socialism would be OK.
Nothing government does to the economy happens immediately.
When the Federal Reserve cuts or raises interest rates, it takes about 18 months to make a difference, economists estimate. Tax cuts or tax increases aren't fully felt for years.
The Obama stimulus isn't even out the door.
