I really am mystified by the financial stimulus plan which it appears will be passed soon (well, soon by Congressional standards). Apparently the first things the Democrats bargained away were increases in the food stamp program and extension of eligibility for unemployment insurance. Excuse me? What is the scariest thing about a recession? That you’ll lose your job and won’t be able to feed your family, right? No, apparently it’s that you might not afford the gas to take your kids to soccer practice or (perish the thought!) keep current with your country club dues. I mean, WTF?

Don’t get me wrong—I’ll be happy to get a check if one comes my way. That baby will barely graze the mailbox before it gets cashed. But I think we’re seriously missing the boat here.

Update: Paul Krugman at the NY Times says it much better than I could (of course), with figures to back it up. The real mystery, of course, is where the Democrats’ collective spine has gone to. At this point we expect them to cave automatically on anything that could potentially paint them as weak on security—even when polls show as much as 70% of the American people would support their opposing the administration on certain issues. But though Krugman points out the administration’s complete lack of credibility on economic policy, it appears that once again the Democrats are running scared. I just don’t get it.