As regular readers know, I’m among the President’s most consistent supporters. Granted, I blinked on his early handling of the Gulf oil spill. But ultimately, I decided he was probably doing the best he could, given the circumstances and the clear limitations on what any one person, even the chief executive of the United States, can accomplish in these situations.

All that being said, I’m struggling now as I listen to him call for more deficit spending to deal with a still uncertain economy.

Mr. Obama criticized Republicans for opposing an extension of unemployment benefits and further aid to state governments to avert mass layoffs …

No, I’m not a big fan of Congressional Republicans. But I think they might have a point, this time around.

Paul Krugman suggests it would be foolish to pull back on government spending when the picture is still so cloudy.

Around the world — most recently at last weekend’s deeply discouraging G-20 meeting — governments are obsessing about inflation when the real threat is deflation, preaching the need for belt-tightening when the real problem is inadequate spending.

But when do we say “enough is enough”? When is it the right decision to just … muddle through; to grit our teeth and tolerate additional pain now, in order to prevent the greater pain we might endure as a result of debts and deficits even more monstrous than the ones we already face?

I’m no expert on these matters. I’m willing to be convinced otherwise. And I have great empathy for those who are doing their damndest to find a job, can’t, and thus need support in the form of extended unemployment benefits.

Even so, at some point, we have to stop spending money we don’t have, unless we want to risk even greater harm. Are we there yet? [continued]