Huffpost Politics   Andrew Reinbach Headshot  Republicans:
Penny-Wise, Pound-Foolish  Posted: Updated:  If your ship sinks
and you're swimming to shore, you don't stop because you'll be
too wet when you get there.  But that's what the Republican's
new-found anxiety about deficit spending amounts to. Because
whatever conservative economists say, you spend your way out of
a recession, and deal with the long-term debt problems later.
The alternative is a deeper recession.  So when you consider the
Republican leadership's recent sneer at extending unemployment
benefits, you have to wonder: What is the Republican leadership
thinking?  That's because unless Congress reverses course, we're
heading straight for economic disaster, and if anything bad
happens to the economy, the country is out of tricks.  The
economy's already stalled, and cutting off benefits to 5 million
people by October -- and choking consumer spending as a result
-- will do us no favors. In this pass, anything that takes money
out of the hands of