Make hay while the sun shines, damp squib. be consumed by/with something. Often they avert their eyes, consumed by their own thoughts.Credit...

“The Tea,” about 1880. Cassatt’s women rarely look ahead at the viewer. Often they avert their eyes, consumed by their own thoughts.Credit...via Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

It has turned out to be a damp squib. The new spending is not large, yet promoting the proposals has consumed his political capital. For a start, instead of pushing the second stimulus through the Diet (parliament) at once, Mr Aso put it off until the session that began in January, so as not to divert energies from the annual budgeting ritual. Yet that has given more time for the public to turn against the handout as a gimmick, and for the opposition to make hay.

 be consumed by/with something

 

C2

to have so much of a feeling that it affects everything you do:

He was consumed with jealousy.

damp squib noun [C] UK
an event which is not as exciting or popular as people thought it would be:
After all that media attention, the whole event turned out to be a bit of a damp squib, with very few people attending.

squib 
noun [C]
a small firework consisting of a tube filled with powder which makes a hissing noise when it is lit

Make hay while the sun shines. SAYING
said to mean that you should make good use of an opportunity while it lasts