From the "In God we trust, everyone else bring data" file, Brian Wesbury offers a most optimistic take on the economy in Monday's Wall Street Journal:

Supply-side guru Art Laffer weighs in on the Bush stimulus plan in Friday's Wall Street Journal. He's unimpressed. Rather than have the Treasury cut checks, Laffer recommends that Congress cut marginal tax rates again.

I'm not the only one grumbling about the lack of unemployment and food stamp aid in the new stimulus package. Throw in the fact that Harry Reid will let Republicans filibuster easily but drops the hammer on Democrats, and you now have disgruntled folks on the left, like Chris Hayes, saying the Democratic Congress is a failure.

Looks like a stimulus deal has been struck:

House leaders and the White House on Thursday reached a tentative agreement on an economic stimulus package of roughly $150 million that would pay stipends of $300 to $1,200 per family and provide tax incentives for businesses to encourage spending.

One of the better wonk blogs out there comes from Peter Orzag, director of the Congressional Budget Office. Today's entry -- actually, the notes he gave in congressional testimony -- is on what kinds of economic stimulus will work best in our sagging economy.

He's not sure we're in a recession -- but he does acknowledge that we are in a period, at the very least, "weak economic growth." And he offers the following principles for good stimulus:

* It must be delivered rapidly.
* It must be temporary.
* And it must be cost-effective.