A Little Less Consternation

Some good news:

The 3.8 percent annual pace of contraction in the final three months of last year was less than forecast, with a buildup of unsold goods cushioning the blow. Without the jump in inventories, the decline would have been 5.1 percent, the Commerce Department said today in Washington.

For those keeping score at home, the economy shrank at only two-thirds the rate economists feared. So how about Congress chop, say, $200 billion or so off that $900 billion pork package?