Does Obama Get It? Or Is He In A Bubble Like Bush?

Bob Herbert has a great column in today's New York Times that looks at Obama's apparent inability to get what is in the minds and emotions of every day Americans in terms of the current economy. The same question, however, could apply to Obama and the issue of gay rights or the unwinable war in Afghanistan. At some point, he needs to stop listening to his advisers who - much like the Chimperator's insider crowd - appear to never want to level about what is REALLY going on. On the economic front, the economy for rank and file Americans still stinks tremendously regardless of whatever economic "indicators" pundits and others like to look at. Reality on the streets is what counts because eventually in politics, perception does become reality. Right now, the feeling on the part of many is that Obama and the Congressional Democrats are in over their head and cannot deliver. Here in Virginia, that is translating into Democrat indifference and the likelihood that the GOP may prevail in electing the most reactionary and anti-religious freedom slate to office in many decades. Obama and his gutless cohorts in Congress need to wake up NOW! Here are some column highlights:
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The big question on the domestic front right now is whether President Obama understands the gravity of the employment crisis facing the country. Does he get it? The signals coming out of the White House have not been encouraging.

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The view of most American families is somewhat less blasé. Faced with the relentless monthly costs of housing, transportation, food, clothing, education and so forth, they have precious little time to wait for this lagging indicator to come creeping across the finish line. Americans need jobs now, and if the economy on its own is incapable of putting people back to work — which appears to be the case — then the government needs to step in with aggressive job-creation efforts.

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Nearly one in four American families has suffered a job loss over the past year, according to a survey released by the Economic Policy Institute. Nearly 1 in 10 Americans is officially unemployed, and the real-world jobless rate is worse.

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A massive long-term campaign to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure — which would put large numbers of people to work establishing the essential industrial platform for a truly 21st-century American economy — has not seriously been considered. Large-scale public-works programs that would reach deep into the inner cities and out to hard-pressed suburban and rural areas have been dismissed as the residue of an ancient, unsophisticated era.

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We seem to be waiting for some mythical rebound to come rolling in, magically equipped with robust job creation, a long-term bull market and paradise regained for consumers. It ain’t happening. . . . . The number of people officially unemployed — 15.1 million — is, as The Wall Street Journal noted, greater than the population of 46 of the 50 states.

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The Obama administration seems hamstrung by the unemployment crisis. No big ideas have emerged. No dramatically creative initiatives. While devoting enormous amounts of energy to health care, and trying now to decide what to do about Afghanistan, the president has not even conveyed the sense of urgency that the crisis in employment warrants.

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Whether anything dramatic emerges remains to be seen. The master in this area, of course, was Franklin Roosevelt. His first Inaugural Address was famous for the phrase: “The only thing we have to fear. ...” But he also said in that speech: “Our greatest primary task is to put people to work.” And he said the country should treat that task “as we would treat the emergency of a war.” Now that’s the sense of urgency we need.

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Will Obama wake up? I certainly hope so, but as with the issue of gay rights, I am anything but confident that he will do so. Waiting for Congress to act is a losing plan. We need bold leadership and Obama has been missing in action.