President Obama held his second news conference last night. He made a big push for support of his budget proposal that is moving through Congress this week. Obama stood fast by his conviction that we need to invest in health care, education, and energy policy now, even as the country grapples with a serious recession. The House and the Senate have come out with their own blueprints for the 2010 budget. And they seem to leave the President’s education, health care and energy causes alone, with the stipulation that spending on these initiatives does not increase the deficit. However, the House version slashes more than $100 billion from the Administration spending plan. The Treasury is on the receiving end of that, which means their request for more bailout funds for the financial sector will not be budgeted. Instead, the Treasury would have to ask for the funds on a case by case basis. Some good news today: the Commerce Department reported that manufacturing orders for durable goods, like metals and equipment rose for the first time in six months in February. Last month’s durable goods orders rose 3.4% following a January decline of 7.3%. The markets reacted very favorably to the good news. The Dow stayed above the 7,800 mark all morning, sliding a just below it but early afternoon. The Czech government is the latest victim of the global economic crisis. What is a now the out-of-power Czech Prime Minister, and officially still the EU President, Mirek Topolanek, to do? Why, beat on the United States, of course! Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek described the U.S. stimulus spending as “the way to hell.” Topolanek’s outspoken comments stepped on the feet of the EU officials who have been carefully orchestrating the upcoming G-20 talks, especially the approach to the U.S.