Yet everyone continues to give the Dems and Obama a pass on this failed plan. They should have let them go down earlier.

I agree. $50 Billlion could have gone a long way for the employees and ancillary companies - the suppliers and all. Of course the previous administration was quoted as being short sighted and acting out of haste... This seems an eerily similar decision.
Of course we all know that "deficits don't matter, Reagan proved that" This is dwarfing anything Reagan could have ever possibly dreamed of creating.

However, like Reagan, Obama has come into power at a time when the country has a multitude of challenges which offer his administration a great opportunity to excel.