Nile Gardiner says we are heading toward an economic abyss under the policies of the most left-wing President in U.S. history.

The new numbers are not good, as the economy is creating a paltry number of jobs and the number of jobless people continues to grow.

The most recent economic data has many economists wondering whether we have just "hit a speed bump" on the road to economic recovery or we are now entering the second dip in the "double-dip recession".

The political consequences of continued slow growth, high joblessness and, potentially, another economic downturn, are sobering for the President. Fred Barnes believes there is no way the President can convince voters that we are not living in the "Obama economy".

On the other hand, Dorothy Rabinowitz does not believe the Republicans can just get away with harping on the bad economy and warning of the perils of huge budget deficits. She believes the winning Republican presidential candidate must speak to voters about the things that concern them the most...jobs, jobs, jobs.

Speaking of jobs, here is a chart that shows the extent of the problem.

Still, if entitlement spending is the rock upon which our economic ship will eventually founder, then we should heed Andrew C. McCarthy's column on Medicare. Alas, very few politicians can take McCarthy's position, which is to end the Medicare system entirely, and survive an election with job intact. I happen to believe that the American people will only understand that what Walter Russell Mead calls "the blue model" is obsolete when the ship hits the rocks. Americans tend to learn only when disaster strikes. Churchill was right when he said Americans always do the right thing...after they have tried everything else.