In what universe is the $787 billion stimulus working?

By any objective standard, President Obama's $787 billion stimulus has been a colossal failure. Since the stimulus bill was signed into law, 2 million Americans have lost their jobs. Unemployment is charging toward 10%. A record number of Americans, about 1 in 9 or nearly 35 million people, are receiving food stamps. The credit markets are still locked up and banks are not lending. And now some of the President's top advisors are saying that a tax increase for the middle class is on the table to fund his vision for health care reform.

Let's suspend disbelief for a moment and accept that the stimulus is in fact working. So far approximately 10% of the money allocated in the stimulus bill has actually been spent. If this thing really is working, then why did we need to put $787 billion worth of spending in the bill if it was only going to take under $8 billion to get the job done?

The truth is, although the President initially described his stimulus as a "jolt" to the economy (he's since backed off and stated that it was never intended to be as such), the spending in the bill is heavily back-end loaded for 2011-2012. Conveniently, the President is up for re-election around that time. Coincidence?

Council of Economic Advisers chair Christina Romer insists that the stimulus is working. "Sometime after you get the prescription, and maybe even after you take the first pill, your fever spikes. Do you decide that the medicine was useless? Do you conclude the antibiotic caused the infection to get worse? Surely not," she said. "You probably conclude that the illness was more serious than you and the doctor thought, and are very glad you saw the doctor and started taking the medicine when you did."

What if what you're experiencing is an allergic reaction to the "prescription?" You just may want to stop taking it and try something else; it could save your life.