Obama to Address Nation on Economic Crisis

Barack Obama's message tonight from the House of Representatives will be cover several key points. First, he must explain that his administration is taking unprecedented action because of the unprecedented nature of the crisis facing the nation. Things will likely get worse before they can get better. The massive stimulus package will take time to actually stimulate the economy. Also, eventually the country is going to have to take steps to pare down its massive debt and budget deficits. All of the money will have to be paid back - a concept few Americans actually grasp.

And perhaps most importantly, he has to explain to people that the problems we face are not of his doing. The Bush administration, Obama will argue, created the situation we now face. And while it is true that the current situation gained momentum during the Bush years, the economic policies, corporate and government failures were much larger than the Bush administration.

The fact is likely that too few of our government leaders are capable of understanding the issues at hand to properly address them. The stimulus package may be a glaring example of that problem. One of the traditional means of stimulating the economy is to increase government spending. But this isn't a traditional problem. The credit markets are frozen solid and there is no cash available for the economy to grow. A traditional government spending package - regardless of its size - is unlikely to address that problem.