I sees a DFH in the 3rd row

Maybe Obama needs to muzzle him. First he insults the Progressive base and now this:

Asked if the stimulus bill was too small, [White House press secretary Robert] Gibbs says: “I think it makes sense to step back just for a second. … Nobody had, in January of 2009, a sufficient grasp of … what we were facing.” He adds that any stimulus was “unlikely to fill” the hole the financial meltdown created.

“What the Recovery Act did was prevent us from sliding even into a deeper recession with greater economic contraction, with greater job loss than we have experienced because of it,” he says.

The key, here, was the question, “was the Stimulus too small”? And his answer that “any stimulus was “unlikely to fill” the hole the financial meltdown created.”

This comment set off many bloggers and Paul Krugman. And I am sure there will be more economists chiming in.

First Booman: Wrong Answer

This answer has the dubious distinction of being erroneous and stupid. Plenty of people had a sufficient grasp of the situation to recommend a much bigger stimulus bill. The no one could have predicted line of argument is not a political winner under any circumstances but it really stinks when it isn’t true.

From ql of Eschaton:

Not an economist, but I think Ruth has it about right. The financial system is like a house of cards that is teetering on the brink of collapse. Sooner or later all the assets held by the banks will have to be valued at market rates instead of the inflated values currently assigned to them. I suppose our betters are hoping that either the housing market will re-inflate or that they can spread the losses out over several years for a soft landing. Either way, it’s not very comfortable knowing that we’re so close to having the whole house collapse.

And Paul Krugman: Nobody

The truth is that some of us were practically screaming back in January 2009 that the administration was proposing too small a program. Start with this post and work forward. And no, the point isn’t that I’m so smart — it is that given the forecasts we had at the time, and given historical experience of recessions after financial crises, it wasn’t at all hard to see that the plan was too small. Things have been worse than expected — but not that much worse.

And why does this matter? Because the best chance Obama et al have to change things now is to make the case that we need to do more, and that Republicans stand in the way. Yet here they are, apparently trying to run on the claim that they had it right all along, or something. Is this just boneheaded political strategy? Is it about the egos of the advisers who called it wrong? I don’t know — but it fills me with despair.

So does this mean, with what Gibbs said, that Obama will not fight for a second Stimulus?

Here’s more on the Obama Admin “plans” for the economy and what the GnOP will do to stop it:

What Obama said yesterday: The President on the Economy: “Pushing This Economy Forward” vs. “The Blockade”

“So, as Congress prepares to return to session, my economic team is hard at work in identifying additional measures that could make a difference in both promoting growth and hiring in the short term, and increasing our economy’s competitiveness in the long term. Steps like extending the tax cuts for the middle class that are set to expire this year. Redoubling our investment in clean energy and R&D. Rebuilding more of our infrastructure for the future. Further tax cuts to encourage businesses to put their capital to work creating jobs here in the United States. And I’ll be addressing these proposals in further detail in the days and weeks to come.

From Ruth Calvo at Firedoglake: She calls our Economy a House of Cards.

The stranglehold the right wing has had on our nation’s economics has been a boon, you would think, to updating working knowledge of what works, and most strongly, what doesn’t, for economic health. To the morbid fascination of those of us who actually studied, and have working knowledge of, economics as a science there is an incredible tenacity of the right wing that insists its disproved theories actually work.

It looks like the Republicans will gain seats in the House this year. enough to take the majority? Very Possible. If so, with subpoena power, look for stalling on anything to help the economy and all the GnOP energy into investigating the Obama Admin. Whatever happens, we’re in for a rough ride til 2012. I don’t see much getting done unless the Dems and the Obama admin Steps It Up against the opposition.