President Obama dismissed the idea the nation needs a second stimulus to jolt the economy out of recession in his radio address today, and urged Americans to be patient with his recovery plan. Faced with rising unemployment numbers and criticism from Republicans who have already labeled the $787 billion injection a failure, Obama reminded voters that reversing job losses takes time.
He criticized the GOP for opposing the stimulus but offering few alternatives to the worst recession since the Great Depression. "We must let it work the way it's supposed to, with the understanding that in any recession, unemployment tends to recover more slowly than other measures of economic activity," Obama, who is visiting Ghana, said in his recorded message. The plan "was not designed to work in four months. It was designed to work over two years." (More Barack Obama stories.)