Let me finish tonight with a simple recommendation for the president: keep it simple.
The American people need a leader right now. They need to know what the leader wants of them. What can they do, they want to know, to help get this country moving again?
What should we do?
Should we push the Congress to spend some money on a jobs program? Should we raise the heat on those who vote against it or refuse to let it even come to a vote? Should we demand that Congress pass such a program?
He's talking about other things - continued payroll tax cuts, extended unemployment benefits, those trade deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama - something about patent reform.
I think he needs something bigger, something that will force the country to pay attention and take sides, something intriguing, compelling, exciting.
Maybe it's a jobs program that includes, but isn't limited to, public works. A jobs program that would put a million people to work, cutting the unemployment rate down to 8 percent - a major fix of our jobs outlook and a use of the federal government that would put our economic situation rocketing back to normal.
It has to be something big enough for all to see - for every unemployed person in the country to see and take advantage of. We either have a serious situation in this country or we don't. If it's serious, we need a serious program to correct it.
That's what I think. The president needs an economic proposal after Labor Day that impresses everyone - including his enemies, maybe especially his enemies.