Washington was built on a swamp. In the summer,
temperatures can reach over 100 degrees -- as they did over the last few
days when I made the rounds of Washington Democrats, repeatedly asking
why no bold jobs plan is emerging.
Here's a sample of their responses:
"Dead in the water. We'll be lucky if we get votes to raise the debt ceiling without major spending cuts this year and next."
"Are you kidding? It's all budget deficit, budget deficit, budget deficit. Nobody's thinking about anything else."
"Republicans beat us up so bad over the first stimulus there's no way we're gonna try for a second."
"We got them [Republicans] cornered on Medicare. Now they want to change the subject to jobs. Forget it."
"No need. We'll see job growth in the second half of the year."
"The President doesn't want to put anything on the table he can't get through Congress."
And so it went. Not a shred of urgency.
This morning I was on ABC's "This Week," debating jobs and the
economy with Republican Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama. Shelby
restated the standard Republican playbook of spending cuts and tax cuts
(except for one instant when he inadvertently conceded America emerged
from the Great Depression only when government spent big time mobilizing
the nation for World War II).
But what struck me most was the similarity between Shelby's overall
attitude and that of the Democrats I talked with -- a kind of shrug of
the shoulders, a sense that it's really not all that bad out there, and
that nothing can be done anyway. (In the green room, before going on,
Shelby told me employment in northern Alabama was actually fairly good
and the problem was near the coast.)
The recovery is stalling across the nation, yet in the Washington swamp it's business as usual.
Americans are scared, with reason. We're in a vicious cycle in which
lower wages and net job losses and high debt are causing consumers to
cut their spending -- which is causing businesses to cut back on hiring
and reduce pay. There's no way out of this morass without bold
leadership from Washington to rekindle consumer demand.
If the Democrats remain silent, the vacuum will be filled by the
Republican snake oil of federal spending cuts and cut taxes on big
corporations and the wealthy. Democrats -- starting with the President --
must have the courage and conviction to tell the nation the recovery is
stalling, and what must be done.