This one at least has the potential to do some economic good.

If it were in the hands of the private sector it would. The government can only create government jobs. This does not help the economy.

Regarding the deficit- at the millennium, there was a serious chance that the US debt would completely disappear. Greenspan talked about a T-Bill-less economy.
Two needless wars, massive tax cuts, bridges to nowhere, a vastly bloated prison population, the creation of several huge bureaucracies (TSA, DNI) and a major financial crisis have put us in the mess that we're in.

I was no Bush fan either. Yes, he increased the national debt from almost 6 trillion when he took office in 2001 to almost 12 trillion when he left in 2009. Obama has now increased it to over 18 trillion dollars today and if he keeps spending at this rate, it will be over 20 trillion by the time he leaves office. I realize that you think that Bush was the devil and that Obama walks on water but the facts speak for themselves. Obama carries a lot of the responsibility for the financial mess that we are in.