the stimulus worked

So says David Leonhardt of the New York Times. Hard to run on "it could have been worse, trust us," but it's good to know it was the right decision.

If there's anything I hope people learn from all the discussions of economic stimulus and tax cuts and budgets, it's how connected the federal budget is to your schools, your roads, your friends' and family's and neighbors' jobs, and your local services that you rely on every day. A tremendous amount of federal taxpayer money flows down to the state and local level. Add in Medicare and Social Security, which directly benefit pretty much every person you know over 65, and we're talking about most of the federal budget.