Quick hits on deficits, stimuli and the economy

There are so many stories I wish I could go in depth on, but unfortunately my time is short so here goes:

• Talk about arrogance. Sen. Schumer, try reading this blog - or any moderate to conservative blog for that matter. Oh, and since when are billion dollar amendments "tiny?"
• So much is wrong with the bailout and stimulus bills, but here is a pretty good wrap up of reaction to Secretary Geithner's press conference.
• Speaking of Geithner's press conference, the AP has a pretty damning quote from Jeff Buetow, senior portfolio manager at Portfolio Management Consultants: "basically [this announcement] puts a spotlight on the fact that the government has no idea how to fix the problem."
• Locally, the Wisconsin State Senate has decided to make a bad economy worse by raising the Wisconsin minimum wage to $7.60 an hour - that's $1.90 above the federal minimum wage. The bills passed also allow local municipalities to set their own "living wages." As Sen. Kedzie points out, the Senate Dems appear to have begun their "War on Jobs" - or at least job creators.
• And, last but not least, the Governor and legislative leaders are going to announce a plan to fix the state's budget deficit and stimulate the economy. I can't wait to see what taxes and fees - and accounting tricks - they plan to use.

Also, just a quick note. I saw Speaker Pelosi on the news yesterday while I was eating dinner. She said that "we cannot afford to make the perfect the enemy of what can be done or what is effective." Not the exact quote, but pretty close. My response is: when did it become acceptable for our legislative leaders to basically say that yeah, we know it's no that good, but hopefully it will work. Since when is mediocrity okay?