Obama's Stimulus Concerns and the rest of the crisis

Paul Krugman says it's not enough.

Employment has already fallen more in this recession than in the 1981-82 slump, considered the worst since the Great Depression. As a result, Mr. Obama's promise that his plan will create or save 3.5 million jobs by the end of 2010 looks underwhelming, to say the least. It's a credible promise - his economists used solidly mainstream estimates of the impacts of tax and spending policies. But 3.5 million jobs almost two years from now isn't enough in the face of an economy that has already lost 4.4 million jobs, and is losing 600,000 more each month.

Andrew Leonard muses on the role of Tim Geitner on the creation of the financial crisis in general:

What Keating means is that Geithner prescribed the classic, IMF medicine for ailing developing nations: In return for an IMF bailout loan, you must cut your government spending. But in Keating's view, it was the wrong medicine for Indonesia, and the fallout had long lasting consequences.

The tough conditions imposed by the IMF on many Asian nations encouraged them to make every effort to avoid needing to ask for such help ever again. So they began building up huge stores of foreign reserves.

Next he looks at John McCain Richard Shelby pulling ideas out of their asses and revealing the emptiness of their party and (inadvertently) the enormity of the crisis.