Dow down more than 1000 points since agreement on "stimulus" bill

(Hat tip: Instapundit)

Another day, another 300 points off the Dow.

Of course, there has been plenty of other bad news driving stock prices down relentlessly since September and going back to last spring.

Even so, as I argued here and here, the final "stimulus" program lacked enough real stimulus to make the kind of impact on the economy advertised for it. Obama'a long-term programs for health care, alternative energy and education may well be critically important, but rolling them (and a lot of other spending that won't take place this year or even next year) into the "stimulus" plan was, to be frank, misleading.

Investors of all kinds -- institutions, businesses, individuals like you and me -- have seen the bill for what it is and is not and are not persuaded it's going to do much. On top of that, we can see clearly that the financial "rescue" plan is moping along and the auto bailouts are about to double or triple, while the new White House team talks daily about its sweeping longer-term plans.

Today, for example, in announcing his new nominee to head Health and Human Services, President Obama said that fixing the nation's broken health care system is essential to economic recovery. Well, it's not, period. It may be very important, but it has nothing at all to do with the recession or the financial crisis.

It's not just the stock market that still lacks confidence. It's every facet of the economy. The President needs to focus first and foremost on the immediate challenge of recovery. If he doesn't, by the time Congress has something resembling a health care reform plan before it in six months or so, no one will believe the nation has the money to pay for it.

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