Words A Matter Of Public Record

"Earlier this year, Mr. Obama assured us that most of the stimulus money "will go out the door immediately." But it hasn't. Only about 7.7% of the stimulus has been spent in the six months since its passage, and more of it will be spent in the program's last eight years than in its first year. So now the president claims he said something different. "We also knew that it would take some time for the money to get out the door," Mr. Obama said in his weekly radio address on Saturday.

One problem with Mr. Obama's stimulus bill that is rarely talked about is that it will force a huge, and likely permanent, increase in discretionary, domestic spending. That portion of federal spending was $393 billion in President George W. Bush's last budget. Democrats immediately raised it to $408 billion for this fiscal year and now face the question of whether to make the stimulus a one-time expenditure or a permanent spending increase."

clipped from online.wsj.com The President Moves the Economic Goalposts So what's a president to do when the promises he made about his economic stimulus program fail to materialize? If you're Barack Obama, you redefine your goals and act as if America won't remember what you said originally. That's a neat trick if you can get away with it, but Mr. Obama won't. His words are a matter of public record and he will be held to them. "You'll see the effects begin almost immediately." Now it's clear that those promised jobs and growth haven't materialized. Mr. Obama never said if his stimulus were passed things might still get significantly worse in the following year. "I think my initial measure of success is creating or saving four million jobs." the stimulus's $787 billion would "go directly to . . . generating three to four million new jobs." unemployment rate would top out in the third quarter of this year at just over 8%. There are 2.6 million fewer Americans working than there were on the day Mr. Obama was sworn in.