Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd admitted last week that the big spending bill was not working the way Democrats hoped it would. If things grow worse, Congress might have to re-examine the plan and "do it again," he said.

"One of the mistakes that were made as we go about it ... we did not get these dollars into the job-producing sectors, a lot of it wasn't targeted as it should have been," Dodd told reporters.

But in a case of mixed messages, while Biden was still pleading to give the stimulus plan more time to work, the White House said last week that the package should be judged on its merits now.

When NBC's Chuck Todd asked presidential press secretary Robert Gibbs, "When should we judge the stimulus package, whether it's working or not?" Gibbs replied, "I think we should judge it, we should begin to judge it now."

Despite what Democratic critics were saying in Congress, Gibbs was singing a different tune. "The stimulus is working. The stimulus plan is injecting money into the economy. The stimulus plan has obligated $160 billion to deal with the dip in the amount of growth."

But "obligated" is not the same as spending, and it does not mean the money has made its way into the economy's bloodstream. In fact, less than half that amount has been spent. And even if it had been spent, this is a paltry sum that would not make even a ripple in the once-mighty $14 trillion economy.

The administration seems to be divorced from economic reality. This plan is not going to create jobs.

When Obama proposed his plan, he said it must be "timely, temporary and targeted," but it is none of these. The bulk of the money will be spent when it's too late, it will not go to where jobs are needed, and it will saddle a weakened economy with another trillion dollars in debt.

Now the administration wants the American people to believe that it did not fully comprehend how bad things really were.