Hope...

I have been saying that, since most recessions end naturally within 18 months, we would be seeing positive changes, even without any "stimulus" package.

Here are the latest stats:

Home foreclosures are down for January
Jobless claims dropped slightly in January
Retail sales rose in January

Certainly, not enough to crow about, or even to pin big hopes on. But what it certainly does prove is that this recession is not bottomless, and can, indeed, clean itself up without government intervention.

The bad news: the Democrats in Congress will claim any softening of the recession is a result of their heroic efforts with the stimulus bill - even though none of the stimulus has yet been injected into the economy, and most of it will not be during this year. But they will claim it, anyway.

And fools will actually believe them.

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