Story of the day...So this country is going to hell, teabaggers?

Last night, on the beloved Facebook, someone I knew had answered a poll about whether they'd vote for Obama in 2012. It came with a "R U NUTZ". I have no idea why I even would pay attention, since I could care less about all those polls, games, apps, whatever in there. Yes I guess after a day with no heat, I was a little cranky. I made a comment about what was the better option: McCain/Palin? That started a string of typical talking point bullying that wasn't backed up by any fact. One thing stuck out, this guy kept repeating about how the economy and the country is going to hell, and somehow history leading up to this doesn't matter. And as I have a real valid problem with people in Obama's economic team and their priorities (read: Geithner/Sumners), the one thing that I did grasp was the need for a stimulus program to spark the flaccid job market (though I agree with economists like Krugman that it should have been larger).

Well the proof truly is in the pudding, as the Congressional Budget Office released the report tracking the effects of the stimulus plan in the fourth quarter, and the news is promising.

The Obama administration's $787 billion stimulus bill created up to 2.1 million jobs during the final three months of last year, according to a new report from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

...

The stimulus also boosted the country’s economic growth by 1.5 to 3.5 percent during the time period and lowered the nation’s unemployment rate by between 0.5 and 1.1 percentage points.

Everybody with any true creds forecast that a recovery will be slow in coming, so even though things are still bad, there is a glimmer of hope. Since the country last year had experienced hemorrhaging employment, this unbiased report is encouraging.

So while Obama may not be the Mister Perfect people either think he is or feel the need to think he's not, but I just wish people would argue the facts, and not just spew what I honestly feel is thinly veiled at best anti-intellectual and at worst racist undertones.