Jim Hightower

Want to know why Obama and the Democrats find themselves in a political mess, only a year after they came into power on a political high?

It has nothing to do with the nonsense that they went too far on health care reform or spent too much on their economic stimulus plan – as clueless purveyors of conventional wisdom are claiming. Rather, the Obamacan's sinking political fortunes stem directly from the fact that America's great middle class is in a heap of hurt – and this workaday majority can't seem to get Washington's attention, much less help.

In contrast, Wall Street got a massive bailout, health insurance profiteers got to write their own reform plan, and military contractors are getting more taxpayer money than ever.

Meanwhile, as recently pointed out by New York Times columnist Bob Herbert, America lost more jobs in the past 10 years than were created – we had zero job growth, the first decade since the 1940s in which our country fell below a 20 percent growth in job opportunities. Thus, the real earnings of middle class families are less today than they were a decade ago.

These are not statistics, they're an economic, social, and political disaster! Our country is in deep trouble, yet people see that Obama – who offered such hope for bold change to make America a better place for all – has lacked the Rooseveltian audacity to take on the power elites, rally the people, and deliver for the middle class.

It'll take 10 million new jobs just to get back to the number we had three years ago, yet there is no plan to get us even to the 2007 level of jobs, much less to move us forward to a brighter future. Obama has talked about building a new green economy, rebuilding our neglected infrastructure, and regaining America's manufacturing oomph. Good stuff! But it's talk, not action, He's squandering his presidency.