You're trying to explain these things to people who think "wealth" consists of bank notes in circulation. And that the most effective way to stimulate the economy is to give everyone food stamps.The stimulus is a drag on the economy just the same way an individual have 25 credit cards charged to the max experiences a drag on lifestyle as all of his income goes to debt service.
We've already borrowed so much from the future that we can't avoid the economic hangover we are enduring. All Obama did was Make It Worse.
But, we're not spending all our income on debt service. No where near it. Not on the Federal level any way, so, where is this drag you're talking about?
You don't understand much about economics do you?
The size of the Federal Government relative to GDP has increased by 25% in three short years, to nearly 25% of GDP. Official federal debt is now 70% of GDP, rising from 40% three years earlier.
When the government spends that much money on the "business of government", economic growth slows down for a variety of reasons: poor allocation of capital, uncertainty regarding fiscal and tax policies, the growth of the regulatory burden used to justify the increase in the size of government (to name a few).
The Stimulus was an Epic Fail by it's own standards. The Romer-Bernstein report is evidence of that. You and your little Obamaphiles can't change that fact.
It's a "toit in bankes".