Hope is On the Way

As markets wobble down, Americans are keeping faith with President Obama. A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows "that 41% of Americans say the country is headed in the right direction, up dramatically from 26% in mid-January, before Mr. Obama took office, and up from 12% before the election." The jump since Obama's Inauguration is the strongest ever recorded except for right after 9-11.

"Part of the explanation for the numbers is that few blame Mr. Obama for the bad economy, with the vast majority of Americans saying he inherited the situation. About half the people will give Mr. Obama at least two years before assigning him responsibility."

"Overall, two-thirds of all Americans say they feel "hopeful" about Mr. Obama's leadership."

Hope is just starting to become tangible as the first projects funded by the Recovery and Reinvestment Act get started. Money is starting to flow to the states to support hard-pressed programs, the boost in unemployment payments is beginning (and that spending will likely enter the economy quickly) and HUD is starting on some $10 billion in projects. Eventually this act alone could stimulate 3.5 million jobs, with almost 400,000 here in California. More initiatives in the budget bill will mean more jobs and economic activity, geared to present needs and future strength.

More work needs to be done in Washington. Though efforts to help the housing market and hard-pressed homeowners are ramping up , efforts to stabilize the financial sector don't seem to be having results, and more drastic action might be necessary.

But as Englands Prime Minister is in the U.S. to discuss global regulations of banking, it's very notable that while European attempts to deal with the crisis seem to be floundering, Obama's leadership has the U.S. on a firmer footing.

"With uncertain leadership and few powerful collective institutions, the European Union is struggling with the strains this crisis has inevitably produced among 27 countries with uneven levels of development," according to the New York Times. "Europe’s difficulties are in sharp contrast to the American response. President Obama has just announced a budget that will send the United States more deeply into debt but that also makes an effort to redistribute income and overhaul health care, improve education and combat environmental problems."