'The New New Deal': The Rare Pro-Stimulus Argument

As President Obama campaigns for reelection, as he delivers speech after speech in swing states from Ohio to Florida, there's one word that’s completely off-limits. So what is that word-which-must-not be named? It's "stimulus." The stimulus, formally known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed in 2009. The Act is so hated, and, according to Michael Grunwald, so poorly understood by the American public, that, Grunwald says, "A year after Obama signed the bill, the percentage of the public that believed it had created jobs was lower than the percentage that believed Elvis was alive." In sum, the stimulus has become a political third rail in Obama’s reelection campaign.  Michael Grunwald is a senior national correspondent for Time Magazine and the author of "The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era." He explains why he believes the stimulus is "President Obama’s most ambitious and least understood piece of legislation."