Cross posted at myDD

Perhaps we are seeing a dim light at the end of a tunnel. The Wall Street Journal (subscription only) reported last week that aid to states will be included in a second economic stimulus bill of at least $50 billion:

The general consensus, among people including former Clinton administration officials Lawrence Summers and Alan S. Blinder, was that checks for individuals and additional government spending would help boost the economy, stem job loss and alleviate the pain of higher prices that people are paying for food and gas.

Thankfully Congress seems to finally be coming to terms with what we all have known for a long time now; that the health of the national economy is reliant on the health of the state economies. Speaker Pelosi brings home this point in getting into the finer points of what the bill will entail: