The obvious justification is that increased government spending is balanced by increased tax revenues, which hasn’t happened in this situation because no one is

The obvious justification is that increased government spending is balanced by increased tax revenues, which hasn’t happened in this situation because no one is able to work or spend. I don’t see how the cost of furlough is an argument against higher spending. No one thought it would be anything other than mad spending with little immediate gratification. The payoff comes from, well, not plunging masses into poverty for not foreseeing the greatest economic disruption since 1939.