Jobs, light: President's jobs proposal big on rhetoric. Weak on reality.

There are some who think President Barack Obama has gotten a bad deal, that his efforts to fix the economy have been stymied by the fickleness of the market and inherited policies that set the course for trouble.

They say his stimulus bill was working and they are looking forward eagerly to his new jobs proposal.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of the rest of the country feels exactly the opposite.

As you listen to the latest speech, you see that this is another half-baked stab at fixing a problem that is getting worse, not better.

It will put thousands of construction workers back to work -- which the president seems to think will give the economy the push it needs -- even though the last round of public works projects made things worse. He also says we will be able to re-employ thousands more government workers -- and we all know how that turns out.

And all it will take is more taxes.

The sad thing about the president's call is that it seems so desperate -- and even though he claims it isn't -- sure reads like a campaign ploy and not a serious attempt to get the country back on track.

And the calls that, now, he is being stymied by a do-nothing Congress are disingenuous at best.

Considering the president had majorities until recently in both houses of Congress, there should have been no impediment to that point to him implementing whatever policies were necessary to get his agenda on the books and the country on the road to recovery.

He is right about one thing, however. It is time for both Republicans and Democrats to work together to come up with some kind of solution to the economic woes we face. It needs to be a reasoned decision and not a quick fix to get through campaign season.

And he is right about something else, too. Americans need someone to do something, soon, before it is too late.

Published in Editorials on September 15, 2011 10:40 AM