basically, politicians of all stripes have had the realization that there is some backlash against infinite spending/debt, and perhaps they even actually believe that borrowing/"printing" a new trillion every week might have some bad consequences. so here is the argument: we have to spend like crazy now, then return to fiscal discipline next year when it all turns around. only, the stimulus consists largely of programs, such as health care or the education stuff, that create entirely new entitlements and bureaucracies and which are, of course, going to have to be funded until the anarchist revolution of 2083. and guaranteeing investments, or simply buying highly questionable assets, produces a debt which is very likely to grow over the years/decades rather than shrink. it's not a temporary emergency measure; it's a permanent doubling of the size of the federal government. perhaps this will help us into a secure, albeit dependent, future. perhaps it introduces semi-permanent stagflation. perhaps the dollar collapses and we mutate into a large zimbabwe. but whatever happens, we are not going to "return" to fiscal responsibility next year.