Obama's stimulus that isn't a stimulus

Let's see, the Democrats said if their $787 economic stimulus bill boondoggle was enacted, which it was, the nation's unemployment rate would not exceed eight percent. It's now at 10 percent.

In today's Wall Street Journal, William McGurn talks about the Democrats' second stimulus. Only they're not calling it that.

Not once did he use the word "stimulus." If you search under "speeches and remarks" on the White House Web site, it will tell you that the last time the president used the word "stimulus" in public remarks was in an offhand reference in a speech about clean energy in October. A month before that he used the term once in a speech that was about the stimulus.

The president's increasing shyness about the S-word does not appear to be a coincidence. Here's a snippet from a December exchange between White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and one reporter:

Reporter: "[W]hy are we talking about a second stimulus now?"

Mr. Gibbs: "Well, again, you haven't heard the president talk about a second stimulus. You heard the President discuss targeted ideas that he believes and the economic team believe will have a positive impact on private sector hiring, and creating an environment that will allow the private sector to make those hiring decisions positively."

It's the same thing with cap and trade. Because of its unpopularity, the Dems are calling it something else.

Government-run health care? They call it "the public option."

Semantic issues? No. Bad ideas? Yes.

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