Of course, the New York Times waits until AFTER the bill passes to point out the obvious; with precious few cabinet people in place and Bush holdovers manning many desks, there's no one in the departments who can authorize spending the $787 billion that the president swore to us we had to pass NOW or else: President Obama blasted through all sorts of speed records pushing a $787 billion economic plan through Congress, arguing it was too urgent to wait. But even after signing it into law Tuesday, he faces another problem: virtually no one is in place at his cabinet departments to actually spend a lot of the money.The once efficient Obama transition has ground to a near standstill after tax problems bedeviled several of his nominees, leaving the top echelon of his government largely unassembled. Three cabinet jobs remain unfilled, only 2 of the 15 cabinet departments have deputy secretaries confirmed, and the vast majority of lower-level political jobs remain vacant.The slowdown seems...(Read Full Post)