Feb. 16--The job now is to make the best of a deeply flawed federal economic stimulus package.

Keen decision-making, along with vigilant oversight, will be required not only in Washington, D.C., but also in state capitols, corporate suites and households around the nation.

Just don't expect a miracle.

While massive federal spending offers hope, conditions may get worse before they get better.

The $798 billion stimulus legislation agreed to last week by Congress and the White House provides welcome relief to an economy threatened with a Depression-like collapse.

Nonetheless, the package fell far short of what it should have been, marred by waste and wasted opportunities.

For example, Congress included $198 million in payments to Filipino veterans of World War II, most of whom live in the Philippines.

Compensating the veterans may be the right thing to do, but slipping the measure into the stimulus bill was wrong.

Congress also reduced the direct payments to states proposed by President Barack Obama. Meanwhile, Congress fully accepted a tax break protecting middle-class taxpayers from the Alternative Minimum Tax.

The middle class deserves protection from the AMT. But models suggest that direct payments to states yield $1.38 in stimulative value for each dollar spent. The AMT protection yields just 50 cents in stimulus for each dollar spent.

Similar bad choices litter the legislation.

Nonetheless, the package contains billions for construction projects, research, tax cuts and aid to help states cope with budget deficits. That money is acutely needed.

For example, the Wall Street Journal reported that economists responding to a survey forecast that, without the stimulus, the nation would lose an average of 271,000 jobs a month this year.

The bad news is that those same economists projected that even with the stimulus, the nation could lose an average of 183,000 jobs a month.

A turnaround will take time.

A lesson from the Great Depression is that in emergencies the federal government should act quickly, boldly and cost-effectively to stabilize the economy.

Congress should have been more cost-effective with the stimulus bill. That makes cost-effectiveness even more paramount as states, businesses and consumers use the stimulus money.

The choices made will help to determine where the economy goes from here.

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