Not only are House Black Caucus members demanding more job creation, so are economists, including one ironcally named Gault:
(W)ith roughly a quarter of the stimulus money out the door after nine months, the accumulation of hard data and real-life experience has allowed more dispassionate analysts to reach a consensus that the stimulus package, messy as it is, is working.The legislation, a variety of economists say, is helping an economy in free fall a year ago to grow again and shed fewer jobs than it otherwise would. Mr. Obama’s promise to “save or create” about 3.5 million jobs by the end of 2010 is roughly on track, though far more jobs are being saved than created, especially among states and cities using their money to avoid cutting teachers, police officers and other workers.
“It was worth doing — it’s made a difference,” said Nigel Gault, chief economist at IHS Global Insight, a financial forecasting and analysis group based in Lexington, Mass.
I’m expecting a burst of emails in February, and another stimulus package passing the House. With all this noise, Obama will likely have a proposal in his SOTU; with a consensus already forming, half the battle is already won. Though I the Village will scoff and Faux Noise will savage it, a second stimulus is looking like an easy 11-Dimensional Chess win.
I mean, if Gault seems to think stimulus works, then it must be true.
