Nice rant but ill directed

The problem really isn't with "the centrists". Mush heads like Claire McCaskill can only be expected to behave like mush heads when left on their own recognizance. The problem is the President's staggering failure of leadership. It was the President set the "let's not be too partisan" tone in the first place and sent the Democrats into perpetual retreat mode. It's his fault the bill was allowed to become this shitty and ineffective.

And in 2010, when the Republicans start complaining about how shitty and ineffective the stimulus was... well that will be the President's fault too.

Update: How shitty is this bill in the "compromise" form? REALLY SHITTY.

Now the centrists have shaved off $86 billion in spending — much of it among the most effective and most needed parts of the plan. In particular, aid to state governments, which are in desperate straits, is both fast — because it prevents spending cuts rather than having to start up new projects — and effective, because it would in fact be spent; plus state and local governments are cutting back on essentials, so the social value of this spending would be high. But in the name of mighty centrism, $40 billion of that aid has been cut out.

My first cut says that the changes to the Senate bill will ensure that we have at least 600,000 fewer Americans employed over the next two years.

If this is the plan that gets out of conference, Obama should veto it and make them start over.