Early thoughts, often expressed first on Twitter:

“I have never been more hopeful about America’s future than I am tonight.” Quite a few folks scoffed at that line, but I like to think that Scott Brown’s arrival made everybody feel better.

Joe Biden smiles a little too gleefully at the talk of new taxes on banks.

“Because of our actions, about 2 million Americans are working who would otherwise be unemployed.” YOU LIE!

The administration wants to get a lot of credit for not raising income taxes yet. For starters, not raising taxes in a recession ought to be like getting those first 200 points on the SAT — anybody with a pulse figures that out.

Beyond that, last year states enacted the highest tax increases ever. Because a lot of Americans think of their tax burden collectively, they’re angry over higher taxation, even if federal income taxes haven’t gone up. Their take-home pay, and disposable income, continue to shrink.