[xoxoxoBruce]

No matter what the government does the recession/depression will drag on until the public decides to turn it around. The biggest effect the stimulus package can have is to restore public confidence. But half the stories on the news broadcasts and in the papers contain the words, in these economic times, or in this recession.
Plus the people playing politics, whiners, and harbingers of doom like Merc, have diminished that effect.

Sure there's a lot of people out of work, but there's a fuck of a lot more people still working. Those people are scared, worried about the future, and will remain so because of the whiners, so they are holding on to their cash. Saving rates have more than doubled and spending is way down, exacerbating the pinch.

You don't have to stick your head in the sand but at least pull it out of your ass.