McCain Blasts New Deal, Embraces neo-Hooverism

THE 'OLD' MCCAIN ISN'T COMING BACK ... As much as I'd like to ignore John McCain's "analysis" of the economic stimulus plan, he's not making it easy. For the last couple of weeks, he's been on all the networks, undermining the administration's plan, questioning the president's integrity, and making strange policy arguments. With no obvious Republican leader on the national stage, the media is still turning to the GOP's defeated presidential nominee.

I was kind of curious which John McCain we'd see this year, and President Obama invested a fair amount of time during the transition to bring out the old McCain -- the one, for example, who twice rejected Bush's tax cuts as irresponsible. Well, forget it. The McCain we saw in 2008 is, apparently, the McCain we're stuck with.

On Tuesday, the Arizona senator flirted with neo-Hooverism. Since then, he's embraced it with both arms. In an interview with CBS's Katie Couric last night, explained his top priority:

"No bill is better than this bill, because it increases the deficit by over a trillion dollars. It has so many programs in it that create no jobs whatsoever. And it has no provisions to put us on the path of a balanced budget, once our economy has recovered ... We've got to put ourselves on a path to a balanced budget and eliminating the deficit that's mortgaging our children's futures."