The NYT's David Leonhardt makes sense:

Remember the German economic boom of 2010?Germanys economic growth surged in the middle of last year, causing commentators both there and here to proclaim that American stimulus had failed and German austerity had worked. Germanys announced budget cuts, the commentators said, had given private companies enough confidence in the government to begin spending their own money again.Well, it turns out the German boom didnt last long. With its modest stimulus winding down, Germanys growth slowed sharply late last year, and its economic output still has not recovered to its prerecession peak. Output in the United States where the stimulus program has been bigger and longer lasting has recovered. This country would now need to suffer through a double-dip recession for its gross domestic product to be in the same condition as Germanys.Yet many members of Congress continue to insist that budget cuts are the path to prosperity. The only question in Washington seems to be how deeply to cut federal spending this year.