Today's papers

It's a Numbers Game, and Nobody's Winning
By Lydia DePillis
Posted Saturday, Feb. 28, 2009, at 5:12 AM ET
The New York Times and Wall Street Journal lead with the latest numbers out from the Commerce Department--which douse any hopes one might have harbored for a near-term recovery--and their implications for a stimulus plan that relies on much rosier projections. The Los Angeles Times leads with the local angle on the fiasco; California's unemployment rate topped 10 percent in January, well over the national average of 7.6 percent.

The Washington Post leads (and ends) with President Barack Obama's announcement that the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq has a date: August 2010, with a third of current troop levels to remain in place through 2011. Although faster than what the generals had planned pre-election, it's a more cautious timeline than Obama had laid out on the campaign trail; the paper contrasts his strategy of "risk management" and "mitigation" with what it called "breathtakingly bold" action on the economic stimulus. Still, aside from some disappointment on the left, the plan--which got no cover treatment from the NYT--drew broad acceptance, with Republicans pointing towards the surge as what may allow for a successful withdrawal of troops. According to the Post, they will be missed.

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Lydia DePillis is a writer living in New York.