Obama and the Goat Devil

Maureen Dowd, who is normally not worth reading, was this week.

I had always wondered if and when George W. Bush's relationship with Cheney would sour, now we have some evidence. So, I've gotta ask, how long before it will be before Obama loses faith in Summers? I think, on one hand, Obama's a smart guy, so it should be sooner rather than later. On the other, Summers is not nearly as crazy as Cheney, implying it could be later rather than sooner. What the President needs is clear, incontrovertible evidence that Summers has been wrong on something before the aura of the "brilliant" Harvard John Bates Clark medalist raised by Nobel Prize winners starts to take a hit.

Spending cuts in California and New York thanks to the stimulus package which was too small could be one data point where the evidence conflicts with what Summers likely told Obama when the size of the stimulus package was announced. Aside from the large size of the housing bill and the hint that there might be more stimulus to come, w/ today's announcement on the banks and the revelation that Summers will control the auto bailout, his role appears undiminished.