Bush needs to do something. Does he not understand the synergy between workers having their highest productivity gains in history and job losses? In the 50's and 60's, we were very productive, but not nearly as much as now, and wages were skyrocketing. They are barely keeping up with inflation some years, and not and all in others in the last 2 decades.
We have a problem with productivity ironically. If we get so productive, but the world economy stays flat, we are going to bleed more jobs, while fewer and fewer do the job that it used to take more to do.
In a robust world economy, it wouldn't matter. We would just produce more product. Now that we are for better or worse tied into globalism, we are even more affected by the malaise around the world. Allowing key industries to go overseas, aided by tax incentives to do so, certainly isn't helping matters.
I don't want a democrat to win. However, everybody is familiar with 6 degrees of seperation. Consider how many people these 3,000,000 unemployed people know. Many of these people will be angry. Their wives, children, parents might still be working, but they are going to be affected by the people without jobs. Their friends, co-workers who survived one round of layoffs will feel insecure, unless the companies begin to hire again.
No, Bush shouldn't institute socialism to get votes. He should however be able to demonstrate that he understands the problem, and understands the solutions. If it's capital gains tax cuts, R&D tax credits, or a myriad of things that should be done to encourage growth, he needs to sell the policy to his shareholders, the american people.
He can very easily be re-elected in 2004 with a sluggish job market, if he at least gives people the confidence that he understands why the market is acting the way it is, and he does what he can, through directed tax cuts, reduced red tape, that can be done.
This economy is a perfect time to introduce tort reform. We all sort of vaguely know how lawyers are bleeding this economy dry. In a bad economy, the president would have rapt attention if he did a Ross Perot style chart presentation on how much of every dollar goes to workman's comp, trial lawyers and the like, and how when somebody wins a $100 million jackpot in court, it affects everybody else's job prospects.
In other words, the president needs to at least appear to be firmly in charge. Perception can change reality.
With apologies, we don't need an 'actor', we need results.