Hey Obama, your Stimulus plan is failing just like the one it is modeled after, the plan Spain implemented last year. Got your teleprompter loaded with smoke to blow up our tailpipes about the improving economy for your TV Time tonight? Dixie

U.S. Economy: GDP Shrinks in Worst Slump in 50 Years (Update1)

By Bob Willis

April 29 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. economy plunged again in the first quarter, making this the worst recession in at least half a century.

Gross domestic product dropped at a 6.1 percent annual pace, weaker than forecast, after contracting at a 6.3 percent rate in the last three months of 2008, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. The report, which reflected a record slump in inventories and further declines in housing, comes hours before Federal Reserve officials decide how much money to pump into the economy.

Smaller stockpiles may set the stage for a return to growth in the second half of the year amid signs Fed efforts to reduce borrowing costs and unclog lending are starting to pay off. The contraction persisted even as lower gasoline prices and larger tax refunds helped bring an end to the worst slump in consumer spending in almost three decades.

“We are likely to emerge from this recession very slowly and the recovery will be very weak,â€