Stocks are higher Thursday afternoon, bolstered by fresh economic and corporate data.

At 12:21 pm ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) is up 10.18, or 2.39%, at 436.70, while the Dow is up 1.28% at 7,849.37 and the S&P 500 is up 1.34% at 824.76.

Investor sentiment was buoyed after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled a financial system plan before the House Financial Services Committee today to outline the Obama administration's proposal for extensive overhaul of financial regulations.

Small caps climbing higher today include Republic Airways Holdings (Nasdaq:RJET), which is up almost 40% on higher-than-average volume.

******Former Czech Prime Minister and European Union President Topolanek called the U.S. economic stimulus plan “a road to Hell.” He claims the Fed, Treasury and Administration of repeating the mistakes of the 1930s that sent the United States into the Great Depression.

Also attacked were the stimulus bill’s supposedly “protectionist” policies.

Now, as much as we may criticize our government’s plans, I’m a little defensive when we get flak from an E.U. president. Especially one that just lost a no-confidence vote and was removed from power in his own country. You know what they say about people in glass houses.

Topolanek no longer speaks for his own country. And apparently, he doesn’t speak for the E.U., either. European leaders were out in force trying to minimize the damage their Union president’s comments may have caused.

*****Final GDP numbers from Q4 2008 are in, and they’re essentially in line with the preliminary estimates. That’s being taken as good news in the stock market, index futures rallied on the news.

The economy shrank at a 6.3% annualized rate. The preliminary number was 6.2%. Economists are expecting Q1 2009 GDP to be in the range minus 5% to 6%. That’s something of an improvement and should be bad news as long as . . .

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