When you spend $787 billion, there's a lot of pressure to show results. So, there's no surprise that success is being proclaimed across the country. States are saying that they've used the federal stimulus package money to create or save more than 388,000 jobs this year. Teachers, construction workers and other professions have realized the upside of stimulus cash according to reports from 33 states and Puerto Rico, with the remainder of the results being released on Friday.

Of course, the numbers "should be taken with a grain of salt," says Ethan Pollack of the Economic Policy Institute. The states were tasked to count the jobs created or protected, but the results have been of dubious accuracy. This doesn't mean the stats can't provide fodder to people on both sides of the aisle.

Columbia Business School's Frank Lichtenberg says the data shows a solid economic impact, and the Obama administration's Council of Economic Advisors believes the stimulus spending has taken care of between 600,000 and 1.1 million jobs.

And, there are those who disagree.

This morning Warren Buffett was interviewed and said he would be in favor of the federal government passing legislation for a second stimulus bill -- increasing the money supply again by gargantuan proportions.

While "my pal" Warren got plenty of ink (and pixels) for his comments it left me wanting more. Buffett has the most to gain, and the most to lose -- and at the same time he cannot really lose.

Since Buffett has so many billions of dollars and controls billions more, and influences still more in the hundreds of billions, he clearly has been and continues to be negatively affected by our economic firestorm more than almost any other individual could be.

Something like $275 billion of the proposed $900 billion stimulus plan is reserved for tax cuts. But the tax cuts will just add to the $1.2 trillion dollar deficit with little effect on consumer spending. The reason? Consumers generally save most of the money they get from tax cuts. But the latest savings rate statistics suggest that consumers are now saving on steroids. So I say, scrap the tax cuts.

Things have really changed in the last few years when it comes to savings. In 2007, consumers were spending more than they were making -- just as they did in 1929. To be specific, the savings rate was negative at -0.7% in 2007. Those were the days that consumers could get by on their stagnant incomes by borrowing to buy those flat screen TVs and snowmobiles.

President-elect Obama has discussed a $775 billion stimulus plan that involves $300 billion in complex tax cuts and targeted government spending on roads and bridges, broadband in schools, healthcare information technology, and alternative energy. Will it succeed? I'd say it depends on how you define success.

My definition would be that the plan creates three million new jobs and gets GDP to grow again in the next few years – but also jump-starts economic activity so we don't need to keep borrowing and spending to keep the economy going.

By that standard my guess is that the plan has a 50% chance of succeeding. It will get economic activity going in the short-term but I am not sure if it's enough to revive economic activity in the longer-term. In my view, the plan has the following pros and cons:

• Positives. In general the idea of fixing roads and bridges is good and there are about $323 billion in plans prepared by the states that need funding. I think having broadband in schools is also a good investment in the future education of American students, and that spending on health care information technology could boost its efficiency. Finally, alternative energy is crucial if we hope to free ourselves from dependence on oil and gas from people who don't like us very much.
• Improvement opportunities. However, the problems of this plan are significant. First, getting involved with significant tax cuts to satisfy the Republicans in Congress will slow down the process of getting the legislation passed and it will ultimately bring the U.S. to annual budget deficits that could top $2 trillion.

President-elect Obama has said that he wants to rebuild our infrastructure as a way of jump starting our economy and creating jobs. What does this really mean? To better understand this concept, let's look at a single imaginary construction project. Let's also assume that the Federal Government acts to approve projects submitted by state and local governments. Which people and what skills are involved in it?

Well, first you need people who are skilled at creating and preparing budgets, who know Federal, State and Local laws and regulations and who also know environmental laws at the federal, state and local levels. You need people who know how to write and submit bids with reasonable time constraints. You need computer programmers to write the programs for the project.

Then you need contractors who can perform and complete the project. They, in turn, hire project managers, foremen/women and construction crews. You need civil engineers, architects, and surveyors. You need material suppliers and manufacturers. You also need inspectors, consultants, accountants, auditors and tax specialists. And throughout this process, there are a host of federal, state and local agencies and their employees who must be involved.

Typically, seeing an envelope with the letters "IRS" on it in your mailbox could be a cause for concern, but over the next week some 130 million homes in America will be receiving letters in the mail bringing good news from the Internal Revenue Service.

As you are probably already aware, in its attempt to keep the economy afloat, the US government passed a $168 billion economic stimulus plan, and as a result millions of households across the nation are going to be receiving a little extra cash this year from the US government.

Just to make sure that everyone knows what they can expect, the IRS is mailing over 100 million letters next week to make certain that everyone who may be eligible files their 2007 taxes so that they don't miss the chance to claim their stimulus payments.

It's still not clear whether we'll have a recession or not. But the Federal Reserve, Congress, and the president are definitely concerned -- and are taking swift action.

In fact, Congress and the president are pushing for some tax breaks for small businesses. "The features are similar to the incentive tax provisions of the Reagan era's 1981 Economic Recovery Tax Act, which provided business investment incentives," said Mary Canning, the Dean of the Schools of Taxation and Accounting at Golden Gate University.

So, what does this all mean? What can you do?

Let's take a look:

The proposal: The stimulus plan doubles the amount small businesses can write off for investments in 2008 -- from $125,000 to $250,000. What's more, the bill expands the cap for eligibility; that is, businesses making as much as $800,000 (the prior cap was $500,000).

The proposed bill also allows for accelerated depreciation on plant and equipment. Basically, you can write off as much as 50% of such investments in 2008.

An economic stimulus package would have been great ... if it had come in December. But the slow shuffle of shoes can be heard around Congress as it gets ready for a debate that will come too late.

Speaking of a program to help the economy, "Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat and chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, said he expects Democrats and Republicans to find common ground and there was already agreement that the plan should include tax cuts," according to Reuters. That means that the first quarter will pass without any effort from the government, save rate cuts by the Fed.

Most plans being considered right now would deliver $150 million in stimulants to the economy, many in the form of tax cuts. The programs would raise the Federal deficit, but that can be someone else's problem a few years from now. There is also talk of creating 500,000 new jobs by offering incentives to businesses to create new jobs.

Because of the glacier-like pace of the government's activity, nothing is likely to be in place before the second quarter. At that point, the economy could already be in a deep recession. It would take another two or three quarters for any set of incentives to take hold.

That is a long time for all of the people who could lose homes and jobs this year.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.