Well, we finally have phones back at our house, although we still have the same substandard service as always. But at least I might be able to find some time to post a couple thoughts on here. I miss it when I don't get a chance to write more regularly.

I keep wondering if the economic doldrums that we are in could be enough to keep Obama from getting re-elected? It is interesting that the republicans don't seem to be able to coax a serious opponent out into the ring against Obama at the moment. Obama just seems so, well, presidential. He may not have all the answers, but dang, he has energy and he really seems to care about the job and take it serious. Do we really think any of the republicans can do a better job than Obama right now? I don't think so.

Nevertheless, the economy just doesn't seem to be picking up much. Most of it isn't Obama's fault. But, through little fault of his but more because the realities of the world, he's usually seen doing things other than working on fixing the economy. People may like him, but if they think he simply can't muster an answer to the economic problems and put people back to work, they may turn from him. And he's no dummy. I think he knows that.

And of course, that's what the republicans are banking on. They are doing everything they can to make sure that the economy does lag. They aren't cooperating with Obama on much of anything having to do with the economy. They hammer away at the deficit, even though many credible economists say that the deficit isn't that bad, and evidence backs that up. Even though interest rates are at historical lows, whenever the treasury offers up bonds and bills, they all sell. If people were really freaked out about the national debt, they wouldn't buy it for next to nothing.

But there are the republicans, saying that the debt is threatening our national security. But at the same time, they absolutely refuse to discuss raising revenue. I think most people understand that this is an unreasonable position. On top of that, the cuts that the republicans want to make to fund their refusal to raise revenues is to critical services to less than wealthy citizens such as medicare. That's going over like a lead balloon.

Nevertheless, in spite of all of that, Obama needs to show some kind of progress on the economy by the time the election comes round a year and a half from now. He needed a strategy like cap and trade, although I'm not necessarily endorsing that particular idea. But, if that idea or something like it were executed properly, it could create the economic pressures that would force the country to move to whole new energy and transportation modes. This would create a demand that would create jobs - lots of them. But without something like this, there just isn't the worldwide demand for products that require additional people to make them.

And of course, the republicans aren't going to give Obama anything like that legislatively. A improving economy only insures what already looks like a good chance for re-election, and the republicans are loathe to do it. The heck with whether or not it is good for the country. Ask not what's good for your country, ask what's good for your political party!

Obama's political achille's heel is the economy. Just today the stock market fell a couple percent on the basis of bad economic news. Home prices keep falling. Employment is stagnant. The fact is, the average person, just like us, don't have much extra money to spend on anything but the basics. That means that many segments of the economy are either withering away or barely hanging on.

Obama can't forget that the economy is the one thing that could cause him to lose the election. He is, probably inadvertantly, letting it slip to the back burner, at least that could be the impression that one could have. That's not good. He needs to be talking to up day in and day out, and twisting arms, and doing whatever he can to make people want to invest in the economy. Just a little bit of good economic news will go a long way in this climate. But no good economic news could be really bad news for Obama.