President Bush

With an Iraq invasion likely by early next year, the President has a small window to weigh measures aimed at jump-starting the sputtering expansion. And Corporate America hopes he seizes the moment. "Now is the time to step on the gas," says Pfizer Inc. CEO Henry A. McKinnell. "It's time to start talking seriously about a stimulus package." Revving the nation's economic engine represents more than an opportunity for a newly empowered President--it's a political …

…without stimulus, a supersize cut could throw the budget deep into the red and put upward pressure on interest rates. Still, the U.S. also has an ailing economy. Dr. Bush's prescription will depend on just how sick the patient is. He has two choices: a big stimulus and a bigger stimulus. And the one he picks is likely to have a powerful effect on the economic future of the nation--and his own political future