Instead they made it a point to call out that the actual estimated figure was that the bill would save “only” $ 132 billion dollars from 2010 to 2019. The one trillion dollar estimate was actually for the next decade after that.

Oh, darn.

Fox News

“If there are members of Congress who object to specific policies and proposals in this budget, then I ask them to be ready and willing to propose constructive, alternative solutions,” Mr. Obama said. “ ‘Just say no’ is the right advice to give your teenagers about drugs. It is not an acceptable response to whatever economic policy is proposed by the other party.”

Story on NYTimes

In this episode: President Obama says the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will have an impact as soon as a few weeks from now, in the form of the quickest and broadest tax cut in history. Obama also lists the benefits of the stimulous.

Story on NYTimes

Even as it pulls back from harsh interrogations and other sharply debated aspects of George W. Bush ’s “war on terrorism,” the Obama administration is quietly signaling continued support for other major elements of its predecessor’s approach to fighting Al Qaeda.

In little-noticed confirmation testimony recently, Obama nominees endorsed continuing the C.I.A. ’s program of transferring prisoners to other countries without legal rights, and indefinitely detaining terrorism suspects without trials even if they were arrested far from a war zone.

Story on MSNBC

President Obama, with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., signed the $787 billion stimulus bill at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science on Tuesday.

In related news, The President finally OK’d the awaited boosting of troops to Afghanistan.

Story on BBC

In other news, while Obama signed the Stimulus bill his press secretary stated “while there are no particular plans at this point for a second stimulus package, I wouldn’t foreclose it.”

Bill Clinton took the opportunity for some limelight on CNN to say “It’s quite a good bill!” as well.

Maybe we’re progressing from Obamania to Stimulusmania?

Story on NYTimes

1/31/09: Your Weekly Address from White House on Vimeo.

In this episode: Obama focuses on the financial crisis, acknowledges that Americans are suffering, warns the recovery will take years, and addresses CEO abuses.

Not since prime minister Olof Palme compared the bombings of Hanoi with Treblinka has Sweden been so debated on the other side of the Atlantic. In the times of financial crisis and regressing export markets the panicked Americans doesn’t want Volvos, Saabs or even Absolut Vodka anymore. A completely different blue-yellow (the colors of the swedish flag) product is high in demand: Swedish crisis solving.

There seems to be only two schools of thought on how to solve the crisis right now. Either the japanese version where limited support plans led to a lost decade, and the swedish model of “do it over again, do it right” where the banks are bought, cleaned up and then resold.

They use some Obama quotes where he on board of Air Force One stated in response to a question regarding the swedish model, “All I can say is that I won’t allow the financial industry to crash and burn.”

The Swedish version of Metro had a full cover today regarding Obamas stance on the swedish model set during the last banking crisis in the early 90′s when the banks were largely nationalized. He is largely skeptical, and with good reason as Sweden at the time only had about 5 banks while the U.S has thousands. The headline reads “The swedish model is completely rejected by Obama!”.

Translated excerpts:

The swedish governments saving of the bank industry in the early 90′s is a hot topic in the United States right now. But Barack Obama gives it a thumbs down.

“Sweden has a different culture when it comes to their relations to the market economy” Obama said to ABC news.

That didn’t stop two top economists from New York University stating “Nationalize the banks – we’re all swedes now” in the Washington Post (read it here). Correctly implemented the system could work in the US as well they argued.

Noteworthy point that isn’t mentioned in the article is that while the purchases of the banks cost the goverment around $6 billion at the time, most everything of that investment was quickly regained by the tax payers after the crisis.

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Sweden, which was once called the “cowardly nation up north” by Churchill, seems to have been lifted to international star status with balls of steel. All because they once had a banking system that didn’t work at all, and a number cruncher who set it all right again.

Forget the Abba museum. What the world seems to want now is the former head of the swedish financial department Stefan Ingves.

Story on E24 (swedish)
Story on Metro (swedish)

Story on Google News

In other news about the Obama tubes, a Stimulus Bill Wiki-site has sprung up. It’s supposed to become a wikipedia about what the stimulus bill really means and what’s actually in it. “The Stimulus Wiki was built to dissect and discuss the Stimulus Bill.”

Visit StimulusWiki here.

Thankfully, we aren’t that far behind – so I’ll start from the Valentine’s Day address two days ago.

Topics: Economic stimulus, Economic crisis, Hope