As democrats and progressive pundits begin to nitpick the Obama stimulus plan, invariably by criticizing the size of the tax cuts including the middle classs tax cuts, hopefully they will keep in mind that the entire economic downturn is an issue of TRUST.  3 month T-bills offering next to zero % interest are the equivalent of the proverbial cash in the mattress = no trust in the financial system whatsovever.

If the public at large trusts the new Administration and the Congress to make things better with its economic plan, things will get better much much quicker.  If they don't trust that the plan will make things better, it won't matter what form it takes (see Bush tax cut 2008).

However, when a Presidential candidate makes middle class tax cuts the centerpiece of his plan, and doesn't deliver [no matter how ineffective a Senator or pundit may think a tax cut is] the public loses TRUST in that candidate.

Right now, more than anytime since the Great Depression, we need to trust that the government, especially the new President, will get it right.

This doesn't mean that Congress shouldn't do its job.  But some of the criticism needs to be done in house and not to make headlines ("I'm standing up to Barack Obama".)  Let the Republicans do that.

The John Judis piece linked to by Josh seems to be of this vein (Barack is wrong) and has the headline "Not Enough". It then goes on to say we need a national rail system and a new Bretton Woods Agreement.

Whie both of those ideas may have great merit, I really don't think either idea has anything to do solving the immediate crisis.  But it's a good headline disagreeing with Obama and making one trust him less.  Academically, OK; politically, not so good.

A big freaking spending plan ($800-900 billion+) passed with all deliberate speed will be more important to the recovery than whether every pundit and every Congressperson has publicly had a chance to state their "two cents".