Ah, the Smoke and Mirrors Begins

GDP contracted at only 1% annualized. And the reason for the slow down in the "slow down?"

"Less drastic spending cuts by businesses, a resumption of spending by federal and local governments and an improved trade picture were key forces behind the better performance. Consumers, though, pulled back. Rising unemployment, shrunken nest eggs and lower home values have weighed down their spending."

In other words, everything still sucks, except for the government spending money which makes the numbers look better than what things really are.

And given the worthless programs the government is spending money on, I'm going to guess if we took that out, GDP would have contracted by the 1.5, if not 2.5% economists were predicting.