Damn the deficit, part II: Obama gives himself two years to spend

In his first weekly address, as noted in the post below, Obama framed the financial crisis as an "opportunity" to pass his proposed long-term investments in infrastructure, energy, healthcare and education.

Tonight, on 60 minutes, he gave himself a two-year pass to disregard the size of the Federal deficit:

Kroft: Where is all the money going to come from to do all of these things? And is there a point where just going to the Treasury Department and printing more of it ceases to be an option?

Mr. Obama: Well, look, I think what's interesting about the time that we're in right now is that you actually have a consensus among conservative Republican-leaning economists and liberal left-leaning economists. And the consensus is this: that we have to do whatever it takes to get this economy moving again, that we're gonna have to spend money now to stimulate the economy.

And that we shouldn't worry about the deficit next year or even the year after. That short term, the most important thing is that we avoid a deepening recession.

Claiming a Keynsian consensus, Obama is plainly planning to take the heat as spending goes through the roof and the Democrats under his leadership push for New Deal II.