Even the American Enterprise Institute has to admit that Obama's stimulus plan work, and averted a tremendous economic catastrophe. This is from their "Economic Outlook" for 2010, emphasis mine:
We can expect 2010 to be a volatile year. This likelihood is underscored by looking back at 2008 and 2009. Two thousand eight was a highly volatile year leading up to the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September, which was followed by the risk of a total systemic meltdown. That sharp and obvious risk spike prompted massive policy responses that were simply the largest that central banks, with rate cuts and liquidity provision, and governments, with tax cuts and spending increases, could manage. The result--beginning in March 2009--was a linear rise in the prices of risky assets, the result of massive relief once the slip into a global depression had been averted and the acute phase of the crisis in the financial sector had passed.
The author goes on to credit the Stimulus for adding 4 points to GDP:
The real economy also responded to the massive stimulus but remained heavily dependent on it. In the United States, growth during the second half of 2009 probably averaged about 3 percent. Absent temporary fiscal stimulus and inventory rebuilding, which taken together added about 4 percentage points to U.S. growth, the economy would have contracted at about a 1 percent annual rate during the second half of 2009.
And then, in his conclusion, although I suspect it pained him to say it:
America is probably on track for moderate, if uneven, growth of 2 to 2.5 percent during 2010.
Now, contrast this to the ignorant bile that spews from Jim DeMint (h/t Jonathan Chait)
It is now clear that taking a trillion dollars out of the private economy and spending it on wasteful government programs has been an utter failure. Instead of creating real job growth, the stimulus has grown the burden of debt and increased the likelihood of high inflation and taxes. Since the beginning of this year, nearly 3.8 million Americans have lost their jobs. Unfortunately, instead of ending the failed stimulus, Washington continues to pursue a big government agenda of takeovers, spending and taxes that would further harm our economy.
I hope this issue becomes the centerpiece of the 2010 campaign - do you want competent managers in charge in Washington, or do you want to return the insanity of the Bush Administration.
One more tidbit from the WSJ re the new unemployment numbers just out (emphasis mine):
The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits edged higher last week, though the less-than-expected gain should support expectations that the beleaguered job market is bottoming out.
Supporting that view, total claims lasting more than one week continued their recent descent.
In Thursday's weekly report, the Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits rose 1,000 to 434,000 in the week ended Jan. 2. That was better than Wall Street expectations for an 8,000 gain.
The Labor Department revised the initial claims level for the week of Dec. 26 to 433,000 from an originally reported 432,000.
The four-week average of new claims, which aims to smooth volatility in the data, fell for the 18th week in a row. Average claims declined by 10,250 to 450,250, the lowest level since Sep. 13, 2008.
The number of continuing claims -- those drawn by workers for more than one week -- tumbled 179,000 to 4,802,000 in the week ended Dec. 26. That was the smallest amount since the end of last January.