海角大神

President Obama鈥檚 electoral strategy can best be summed up as: 鈥淲e鈥檙e on the right track, my economic policies are working, we still have a long way to go but stick with me and you鈥檒l be fine.鈥�

That鈥檚 not good enough. This recovery is too anemic, and the chance of an economic stall between now and Election Day far too high.

Even now, Mitt Romney鈥檚 empty 鈥淚鈥檒l to it better鈥� refrain is attracting as many voters as Obama鈥檚 鈥渨e鈥檙e on the right track.鈥� Each man is gathering 46 percent of voter support, according to the . Only 33 percent of the public thinks the economy is improving while 40 percent say they鈥檙e still falling behind financially 鈥� an 11 point increase from 2008. Nearly two-thirds are concerned about paying for housing, and one in five with mortgages say they鈥檙e underwater.

If the economy stalls, Romney鈥檚 empty promise will look even better. And I鈥檇 put the odds of a stall at 50-50. That puts the odds of a Romney presidency far too high for comfort. Need I remind you that Romney enthusiastically supports Paul Ryan鈥檚 wildly regressive budget, and as president would be able to make at least one or possibly two Supreme Court appointments, and control the EPA and every other federal agency and department?聽

The Obama White House should face it: 鈥淲e鈥檙e on the right track鈥� isn鈥檛 sufficient. The President has to offer the nation a clear, bold strategy for boosting the economy. It should be the economic mandate for his second term.聽

It should consist of four points: 聽

First, Obama should demand that the nation鈥檚 banks modify mortgages of homeowners still struggling in the wake of Wall Street鈥檚 housing bubble 鈥� threatening that if the banks fail to do so he鈥檒l fight to resurrect the Glass-Steagall Act and break up Wall Street鈥檚 biggest banks (as the Dallas Fed recently recommended).聽

Second, he should condemn oil speculators for keeping gas prices high 鈥� demanding that the oil companies allow the Commodity Futures Trading Corporation to set limits on such speculation and instructing the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute oil price manipulation.

Third, he should stand ready to make further job-creating investments in the nation鈥檚 crumbling infrastructure, and renew his call for an infastructure bank. And while he understands the need to reduce the nation鈥檚 long-term budget deficit, he won鈥檛 allow austerity economics to take precedence over job creation. He鈥檒l veto budget cuts until unemployment is down to 5 percent.

Finally, he should make clear the underlying problem is widening inequality. With so much of the nation鈥檚 disposable income and wealth going to the top, the vast middle class doesn鈥檛 have the purchasing power it needs to fire up the economy. That鈥檚 why the Buffett rule, setting a minimum tax rate for millionaires, is just a first step for ensuring that the gains from growth are widely shared.

The President can still say we鈥檙e on the right track. But he should also say he鈥檚 not content with the pace of the recovery and will do everything in his power to quicken it. And he should ask the American people for a mandate in his second term to make the economy work for everyone, not just those at the top.

Such a mandate can be put into effect only with a Congress that鈥檚 committed to better jobs and wages for all Americans. He should remind voters that congressional Republicans prevented him from doing all that was needed in the first term, and they must not be allowed to do so again.