Pethokoukis: Secret 2008 Memo to Barack Obama reveals White House knew Stimulus was a partisan scam

Jim Pethokoukis alerts us to the stunning release of a confidential memo sent to Barack Obama by senior economic adviser Larry Summers on December 15, 2008.

In short, Obama and Summers both knew the Stimulus was a scam.

1. The Stimulus Had Nothing to Do With Reviving the Economy, It Was Designed To Reward Allies and Implement Left-Wing Policies - "The short-run economic imperative was to identify as many campaign promises or high priority items that would spend out quickly and be inherently temporary. … The stimulus package is a key tool for advancing clean energy goals and fulfilling a number of campaign commitments."

2. Obama knew that the deficits he was about to run were dangerous -- and didn't care - "[The spending] would leave an average deficit over the next decade that would be worse than any post-World War II decade. This would be entirely unsustainable and could cause serious economic problems in the both the short run and the long run."

3. Obama considered a Stimulus package greater than a trillion dollars, but was dissuaded when convinced the markets would rebel - "To accomplish a more significant reduction in the output gap would require stimulus of well over $1 trillion based on purely mechanical assumptions—which would likely not accomplish the goal because of the impact it would have on markets."

4. The Federal Reserve supported the disastrous Stimulus package - "Senior Federal Reserve officials appear to be of the view that a plan that well exceeds $600 billion would be desirable."

5. Obama knew the financial crisis was not solely Wall Street's fault - "A significant cause of the current crisis lies in the failure of regulators to exercise vigorously the authority they already have."

Read the whole thing.

The revelations in this document alone should be enough to bring down the Obama administration. The level of dishonesty laced throughout the Obama White House is both shocking and repellent.