Agreed. Yes, a shock therapy will always have negative short term consequences. Things like NOT extending unemployment benefits forever hurt, but they are necessary. Eventually people just have to take what they can get, even if it means mowing lawns for a year. NOT sending money to the states to bail out the public sector cost jobs in the short term, but the result is states that bring their spending back in line with reality immediately instead of later when the Feds run out of money to provide additional lifelines. Cutting taxes now may cause a temporary loss in revenue in the short run requiring more cuts in services, but will foster confidence within the business community so they are not scared to death to hire and plan for the future.
So yeah, your right, but think where Obama would be sitting had he done a "shock therapy" at the beginning of his term. Done correctly, he could be sitting on the verge of massive economic growth. Instead, he has effectively shot his proverbial wad and has nothing left in the chamber since the money is all spent. There is just nothing more HopeNChange can do but watch the economy crumble further and further.
But also, as a lame duck, why couldn’t President Bush have seen that, what did he have to lose?