STILL WAITING PATIENTLY FOR M.O.R. MITT TO SHOW UP

I just got through telling you that Ezra Klein is being ridiculously naive if he seriously thinks President Romney and a GOP Congress would take a semi-Keynesian approach to our economic crisis -- and now what do I see buried on the last page of this Politico story?

... POLITICO has learned that top Romney aides last week met privately with influential members of the conservative Republican Study Committee, home to most tea party members of Congress. Participants said the campaign was looking to co-opt some ideas from congressional conservatives. More meetings are scheduled for the coming days and weeks.

"They've reached out to myself, Jim [Jordan] and others to have some sort of coordination of policies and ideas," said Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.), a leading candidate to chair the RSC next in 2012. "Because Romney recognizes there are a lot of good ideas within the Republican conference coming from conservatives. So why not field some of those ideas and bring those into his agenda and his platform?"

The budget proposals of the Republican Study Committee are to the right of Paul Ryan's proposals (e.g., a 47% cut in Medicaid funding to the states by 2022). Here's what was said about the budget plan the RSC put forward in 2011 by, um, Ezra Klein:

But reading their legislation, you can see why more experienced members of their party might balk: $30 billion in savings omes from immediately selling off Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which would potentially throw a weak housing market into total chaos. Another $16 billion comes from repealing the help the federal government is giving states to handle Medicaid costs, which would potentially send a couple of states that are already teetering on the edge of bankruptcy right over the cliff.

Oh, and it was an RSC staffer who, as the debt ceiling debacle approached resolution, was sending out e-mails urging right-wing groups to lobby against the deal, even as John Boehner was urging passage.

Sorry, Ezra -- Mitt may tap his memory bank for mainstream economic ideas when he's talking to a guy from Time magazine, but he's still looking to go hardcore -- it's as if he still hasn't completed his wingnut gang initiation -- and I think it's a safe bet that that's how he's going to govern.