The $787 billion stimulus bill was approved yesterday. Here are the highlights.

Among the more controversial aspects of the bill is a provision that would limit executive pay at institutions which receive bailout money. Politically popular, yes, but I wonder about the unintended consequences.

Here is an analysis of the stimulus by Irwin Stelzer. I agree with him, and I agree that the political ramifications of this stimulus plan which will fail to stimulate are quite bad for the Democrats. I suspect someone will come along with a bumper sticker that reads, "Don't Blame Me, I Voted For McCain".

The main problem facing Obama, which causes me to make the Jimmy Carter comparison, is that he seems incompetent at governing and, knowing he is out of his depth, he resorts instead to campaigning, which he is undeniably good at. Bill Kristol has some thoughts on this problem, and here is another piece which analyzes the Geithner bank bailout plan, which is just another example of Obama's incompetence. This does not mean that Obama will not be able to learn. He seems to be a very intelligent man, and he learned from his early campaign mistakes to win the nomination and the Presidency. But will he be able to learn quickly enough? Or will his mistakes lead to more trouble for the country, and even bigger trouble for his party?

People in Washington and here in New Hampshire are still stunned by the Judd Gregg fiasco. Gregg is a sober, conservative Yankee. He is known for being a quiet, behind-the-scenes player. So, to see him make a very public mistake is rare, indeed. But, in the end, I think he did the right thing by withdrawing.

The crew of that plane that crashed outside Buffalo reported a significant ice buildup. From what investigators have released so far, it does seem like the logical conclusion is that an ice buildup as they were descending compromised the aerodynamics of the plane so that, when they deployed the landing gear and the flaps, they stalled, without enough altitude to correct the problem.

Here is a great theoretical debate between Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan.

The transition to digital TV...just another big government foul up.