Nation Washington correspondent John Nichols likens the recession to a ticking time bomb that has been handed to Barack Obama to defuse. “If the bomb blows up, he’ll be blamed. He’s Bruce Willis now, he’s got the bomb, and he hasn’t taken it apart yet.” Nichols notes that the tipping point for America is often double digit unemployment, and that the higher those numbers go, the more frightened Americans get. This is why, he says, America needs a second stimulus bill, and its focus has to be on job creation. Obama’s political future depends on it.

—Sarah Jaffe

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