Shuffle - Desmond Lachman Resident Fellow Desmond Lachman

I think he inherited a real mess. But my view is he's compounding a mess and not really putting the economy on the right track. I think he really botched the whole stimulus package. Most of it comes into play 2010, 2011 rather than 2009 when it's really needed.

There are two things that worry me. One is, Are they laying the basis for a good recovery from the current recession? The second issue is, Where are they putting this country from a long-run point of view? When I see the fiscal numbers the Congressional Budget Office is projecting, it's really scary. They're rather cavalier with how much health care is going to cost, how are we going to finance it. I just think they're being plain irresponsible.

I don't see how you can get a recovery of any significance going when unemployment goes high. If you've got incomes that are declining and people are trying to increase their savings, it just means consumption's not going to grow, and if consumption doesn't grow, you just don't get a recovery.

Desmond Lachman is a resident fellow at AEI.