HIS ECONOMIC STIMULUS PLAN MAY HAVE BEEN SHOT down by the Senate, but Bill Clinton continues to stockpile figures to justify the $16.5 billion program. Lately, in fact, he's been carrying an uncomfortable surplus. The index of leading indicators plunged 1% in March, the largest drop in nearly three years; consumer spending fell 0.4% in the same month, the biggest decline in a year; factory orders were down 1.5%, another sign of a slowdown in manufacturing. Even the good economic news was tainted. A survey by the Federal Reserve concluded that the economy would grow 2.5% to 3% this year, about...
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