This week news broke that the economic growth figures from the fourth-quarter were revised down to 2.4 percent from 2.5 percent. After trillions of dollars diverted away from taxpayers and the free-market, to be spent on stimulating the economy, the great “recovery” we were promised and hear about so often is no where to be found.

So, in case you hadn’t heard, it looks like the 2009 stimulus bill — that added nearly a trillion dollars to our national debt — might have failed to deliver the immediate and glorious economic recovery we were promised.

Reuters says the president wants the Senate to make cuts to its farm bill. The Associated Press and Politico look at the Senate’s overall deliberations on the bill.

The Wall Street Journal editorial board reports the FAA gave out bonuses at the same time it furloughed air traffic controllers.

The rose-colored economic outlook of the stimulus days have rusted over as the sequester went into effect. Now, time and again, we hear from the administration and others in Congress about how much better things could be, if only it weren’t for that darn sequester that they put no effort into avoiding.

Instead of being spent to educate the public on making smart health choices, it seems that stimulus dollars may have found their way into unlawful efforts to take those choices away entirely.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (more popularly called the 2009 stimulus) turned four on Feb. 17. This year we again take a look at our four criteria for success – timeliness, employment, transparency, and preventing waste – to come with an objective analysis of the program’s success.

A roundup of this morning’s must-read budget and economic stories.

A roundup of this morning’s must-read budget and economic stories.