Spend, Baby, Spend

Pres.-elect Obama likes to say there's "only one president at a time". But his team's Sunday show appearances, and today's high-profile economic team roll-out, suggest he's eager to set the agenda.

-- Pres. Bush's (very) brief statement this a.m. suggests he's happy to keep Paulson and Obama, not himself, in the spotlight. But won't his admin.'s latest actions on Citigroup - and potentially other failing institutions - help shape the economic course Obama takes in '09?

-- Meanwhile, Americans (and the stock market) seem more interested in what Obama has to say than Bush. We saw the market jump up 11/21 on news of Geithner. And, on 11/22, at an Annenberg Public Policy Center-sponsored focus group, more suburban VA voters recognized Rahm's name than Paulson's. The SNL-effect may be at play here. But it's also true that these voters have tuned out Bush -- even as he still makes decisions that affect their lives.

-- It's usually good news for a new pres. to face country that's eager to turn the page. But even as Bush remains in the shadows, his admin is not. Obama and his team may have big plans for a stimulus, but after watching yet another big bank get a infusion of tax-payer cash, will voters have the stomach for more gov't spending?