OK maybe that’s a bit optimistic. Still I’m impressed so far with how Brother Barack has launched the first 100 days. He’s gotten a lot done in only about a week. Gives a body hope for the future. Things might get a bit worse economically (and therefore in folks’ everyday lives) before they get better. Yet a lot of people who really need a little help out there are finally, finally about to get some. This is supposed to be one of the benefits of paying taxes — that the gubment might actually return some of that $ when you really need it (NyTimes):

At first, it will trickle into paychecks in small, barely perceptible amounts: perhaps $12 or $13 a week for many American workers, in the form of lower tax withholding.

For the growing ranks of the unemployed, it will be more noticeable: benefit checks due to stop will keep coming, along with an extra $25 a week.

At the grocery store, a family of four on food stamps could find up to $79 more a month on their government-issued debit card.

And far bigger sums will appear, courtesy of Washington, on budget ledgers in state capitals nationwide: billions of dollars for health care, schools and public works.

But a brother’s got game. Zapping Gitmo, torture, global gag rule, getting $350 billion released to shore up the banks, rescuing state budgets, getting green, thinking outside of the box for the Fed, talkin about $100 billion to stave off foreclosures and so forth. A $500-1000 tax credit for most Americans i.e. Uncle Sam cutting us each a check? Wow.

There’s a lot more to be done and the devil’s in the details. $819 billion or something like – woo chile that’s a lotta coin. And after all, Bush showed us that the government can spend a lot of money and just dig a deeper hole for the American people. It’s one thing to pass the stimulus — it’s another to roll it out successfully. Obama’s White House has (sort of) launched Recovery.gov which is currently one grey page that tells us that a way to track the benjamins being spent is coming. I like the sound of that. So, I’ve still got hope for change. How bout you?

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