"If it was a bad idea to raise taxes... in a down economy then, why is it a good idea to raise taxes in a down economy now?"

Asked David Gregory, on "Meet the Press," after showing a clip of President Obama from January 29, 2010. At the time, Obama said:

I am just listening to the consensus among people who know the economy best. And what they will say is that if you either increase taxes or significantly lowered spending when the economy remains somewhat fragile, that that would have a de-stimulative effect and potentially you’d see a lot of folks losing business, more folks potentially losing jobs. That would be a mistake when the economy has not fully taken off.

How much of a President's work is done by just listening to the consensus among people who supposedly know something best? What's the alternative? Well, knowing stuff. But how much can one person know? He must defer to the experts, and presumably he's chosen the best experts, or, more accurately, he's chosen experts at choosing experts or experts at choosing experts at choosing experts at choosing experts. And then he can defer. Especially when these experts achieve consensus.

And yet, if he had his experts and they reached consensus, what has changed now? You could say: He's closer to the election, but why would that affect the experts...

.... if the experts are the experts who will serve?

... then I'm sure to get a brain... a heart... the nerve...

The experts who are serving now are different experts, with different expertise. Bring in the new team of experts. And watch them achieve consensus: Tax the rich!