Obama, speaking on the one-year anniversary of the stimulus bill:

But during a recession, when businesses pull back and people stop spending, what government can do is provide a temporary boost that puts money in people’s pockets and keeps workers on the job, cuts taxes for small businesses, generates more demand, gives confidence to entrepreneurs that maybe they don’t have to cut back right now, maybe they can hold steady in their plans and in their dreams. That’s exactly what we’ve been able to do with the Recovery Act.

Apparently confidence is not contagious. The news today:

Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center: “Consumer Confidence, which had been improving over the past few months, declined sharply in February. Concerns about current business conditions and the job market pushed the Present Situation Index down to its lowest level in 27 years (Feb. 1983, 17.5). Consumers’ short-term outlook also took a turn for the worse, with fewer consumers anticipating an improvement in business conditions and the job market over the next six months. Consumers also remain extremely pessimistic about their income prospects. This combination of earnings and job anxieties is likely to continue to curb spending.”

Foolish consumers! Don’t you understand that the stimulus is working?