Obama's Confidence Game

Underlying President Obama's strict message for Congress last night was hope in the greater good. Beyond the real policies he laid out to help put Americans back to work, his plan is full of hope. Hope that Washington can fix itself to provide much needed confidence to the economy.
The American Jobs Act he said, "will provide a jolt to an economy that has stalled, and give companies confidence that if they invest and if they hire, there will be customers for their products and services." He acknowledged that while Washington will not drive the economy, it can help and he laid out the game: "The question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy," he stated.
While many of his plans will have direct impact on many Americans, by preserving the payroll tax cut or extending unemployment benefits, and economists are weighing on the greater impact, the immediate impact of his plan will reassure the country that Washington can get anything done to address its concerns.
Americans are scared. The economy is struggling and talk of a double-dip recession is prevalent. Daily headlines suggest serious economic calamity in Europe and fear of another global meltdown. At the same time, all headlines about Washington focus on gridlock, political struggles, and an inability to tackle the problems facing the country. Remember the downgrade of the nation's credit rating by Standard & Poor's was as much about the political gridlock preventing a serious plan to deal with the nation's looming debt as it was about the debt itself.
For the president, his push is to restore the confidence in Washington. Regardless if you think government is the answer or not, some government is a natural cure. Government action to tackle a problem begets confidence that things will get better because it gives Americans hope that the system can work and that its elected leaders feel their collective pain. And can get something done to address it.
Mr. Obama is hoping any action can break the partisan deadlock and restore the hope that something can be done. He's accomplished a lot in his term, most of which he gets little credit, but he campaigned on hope and right now hope is the best thing he can get.
Republicans, as party of no, have absolutely succeeded in eroding the confidence of government. Opposing the president succeeded in eroding the confidence of his policies as well. The Republican party took some policies it had once believed in, stimulus spending and many aspects of health care, and opposed them for political gain. That worked. Without confidence in the economy, the biggest stimulus package would fail because for people to spend money, they need to feel confident in their lot, without that confidence, consumer spending grinds to a halt. Even the president's plan to restore confidence in the financial system with unprecedented reforms was derided as more government. If government can't instill confidence in a free market that nearly destroyed the global economy by hoping to prevent it from happening again, who can?
So Mr. Obama is hoping for a big jolt of economic confidence. Anything passed by the Republican House and the Democratic Senate to jumpstart the economy would provide it. As CBS News analyst John Dickerson wrote today, the gambit for the White House is that they can either convince Republicans to act, helping to put real policies in place and to help restore that much needed confidence, or take the blame for failure. The White House seems optimistic, but not entirely confident that will work.

Do you think that for once the Democratic & Republican parties can set aside differences for the betterment of the United States and worldwide? Post your comments.