The administration’s claim of nearly 640,000 jobs created or “saved” by the $787 billion stimulus bill continues to be savaged by traditional media outlets for inaccuracies.
From the Washington Examiner:
More than ten percent of the jobs the Obama administration has claimed were “created or saved” by the $787 billion stimulus package are doubtful or imaginary, according [...]

Here’s a story you don’t hear about too often: How many stimulus funding bids have been outright rejected? This month, the Vice President has been jet-setting around the U.S. to some of the small towns and cities receiving stimulus money, touting progress, job creation and success. Yet, behind the scenes, Biden might be feeling a [...]

Thanks to Justin and company for welcoming me on here as a regular contributor. I will be posting on a number of issues, but one area you can expect that I will regularly be tracking is technology related developments and how they interact with the political world and policy. I also live less than ten [...]

Last night, at a major Republican fundraiser, GOP leaders had some of their harshest words yet for President Obama and his agenda.
Newt Gingrich said the president’s stimulus plan has already failed. And:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Obama has a “radical agenda.” Republicans have “watched them take over banks, insurance companies, auto companies,” [...]

Whether you think the stimulus plan is a brilliant idea or a dangerous waste of money, chances are, you wouldn’t mind getting your hands on a little of that $787 billion the government will be paying out. So, how can you cash in (in ways larger than the pittance of a tax break most of [...]

This is how your Congress works. No one read the Stimulus bill.

Senator Judd Gregg’s sudden withdrawal as the Commerce Secretary nominee raises some disturbing questions. If, as reports indicate, he was soured by the stimulus bill, we have to ask whether President Obama has killed his hopes for bipartisanship before his presidency is even a month old.
By allowing the Democrats, particularly the House Democrats, to all [...]

John Dickerson at Slate points out one of the unfortunate truths behind the stimulus bill: the process didn’t go as President Obama promised. All that election rhetoric about being more thoughtful and more transparent fell to the wayside as our new President chose expediency over all other considerations.
If you’re going to spend nearly $800 billion [...]

With the price tag going down, TIME finds that several GOPers could sign on to the bill.
Here are the names…
1. Ohio Sen. George Voinovich
2. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski
3. Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar
4. Michigan Rep. Fred Upton
5. Delaware Rep. Mike Castle
6. Pennsylvania Rep. Jim Gerlach
This obviously won’t make the legislation truly bi-partisan, but if some Republicans [...]

A few days ago it was at 52%.
What was the difference? Well, it looks like it was Obama’s press conference.
From Gallup…

Ultimately it looks like Dem support has increased significantly, but do note that Independent support still represents a pretty good gauge of what the overall number is. And Republican support actually went up more than [...]

Yes, the price tag keeps going down.
Now, I’d hope that this would make some of you happy, but I honestly can’t sort through people’s opinions about this anymore. They seem all over the place.
And, by the way, that’s not a judgement, just an observation.
Me, I just think we need to get something done. [...]

You want private sector job growth as a result of the new bill?
This is an encouraging start:
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama says Caterpillar’s chief executive has told him the company will rehire some laid-off workers if the stimulus bill passes.
The heavy equipment maker announced more than 22,000 job cuts last month as it scales [...]

What I think is most telling from the following graph is that the tax cuts make up some of the largest pieces of the plan. In fact, the payroll tax holiday is almost bigger than all the spending for infrastructure combined.
I hope you can read these, but if you can’t you can always visit the [...]

As the stimulus bill works its way closer to completion and the President continues his PR push, many Americans aren’t yet sold on the plan. While a Pew Center Research Poll found 51% support the bill, those numbers have declined from 57% with the biggest drop coming from those who’ve “heard a lot” about the [...]

The vote was 61-37, and the procedural vote yesterday made this margin all but certain.
But this doesn’t mean it’s all sewn up. There’s still some debate to be had.
Politico digs into the specifics…

—Both House and Senate bills provide close to $87 billion in increased federal aid to help states meet their healthcare bills under [...]

Thhis is a bad recession. About in the middle of pack as far as recessions go. The graphic points out an interesting aspect of recessions. They all end. And, surprisingly, they didn’t all need a trillion dollar stimulus bill from the Feds to end them. In fact, all of them combined up to now did not need a trillion dollar stimulus to end.

And there is strong disapproval for the way Republicans are handling this situation.

Not only that, confidence in Obama’s ability to move this country in a positive direction seems to have risen over the past couple weeks…

As I’ve said earlier today, Republicans are playing a dangerous electoral game by going all in on the stimulus opposition. [...]

The way some Republicans are talking, Obama’s plan will destroy our very way of life.
Do they really think it’s smart to put such an extreme message out there?
From CNN:
Leading Republicans warned Sunday that the Obama administration’s $800 billion-plus economic stimulus effort will lead to what one called a “financial disaster.”
“Everybody on the street in America [...]

After failing to rally bipartisan support for the stimulus package, President Obama is taking to the road to rally the people behind his plan.
The president will visit two areas hard hit by the recession: Elkhart, Indiana, and Fort Myers, Florida. The question is, will Obama’s trip be nothing more than the kind of cheering-crowd photo [...]

Pay no attention to the content (massive pork) in the bill. Pay no attention to the fact that it will not solve the root problem and will at best delay a day of reckoning. Pay no attention that it will add a trillion dollars of debt that we do not have and will have to borrow from the Chinese or tax from Americans or devalue the currency to repay. Just pass it, because an economic fear-mongering President says it should be passed.