Yes, it's about jobs...but not so quick with that spending bill

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The soul-searching and re-evaluating have already begun after the loss by the Democrats of the Massachusetts senate seat held since 1962 by Ted Kennedy.

There's been plenty of talk about how's and why's of the embarrassing loss. I've offered my own take on it in my "Scott heard around the world" editorial.

In it, I stated that in the current recession, people are more worried about their financial well-being rather than the access to health care by the millions of the uninsured. No value judgement but just fact of life when so many of us are struggling just to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table for our families. Not only can many of us not afford to buy a truck, but many of us can't afford to pay our mortgages or that car note on the clunker we drive. And even if we are still holding onto our jobs, the possibility of layoffs and corporate cutbacks make us nervous and anxious.

Fact or not, the perception is that the Democrats have spent most of last year focused on passing a health care reform rather than understanding how dire the situation is financially for many Americans.

I am not one who believes Scott Brown's (R) win in Massachusetts was strictly a rejection of the health care bill. I think it goes much deeper than that. But I do believe the Democrats focus on health care reform has created a perception that they do not understand the situation of the average person.

Things seem to be changing. Some Democrats are already starting to shift their focus and talking points to jobs and the economy. "We need a jobs bill. We need short-term, focused strategies to create jobs, real fast," said Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.

But there's a possible pitfall if the Democrats rush to enact another bill to stimulate the economy. Despite all the assertions that the last stimulus bill save millions of jobs, the average man on the street isn't seeing or feeling it. What we do see is $787 BILLION...and we are left wondering, where did all that money go?

As I've noted before, the disconnect that voters feel between themselves and their elected officials is one of the main reasons that the political landscape is changing. It's not just the election of Scott Brown (R) in a historically "blue" state but also in the "Tea Bag party" and the increasing number of voters who declare themselves as independents.

The level of spending adds to this disconnect. We want to see our elected officials running the government in a manner that we run our own lives. The average American must live within our means. We know most politicians are personally wealthy and probably don't have to worry about budgeting and scrimping and saving to make ends meet. But when it comes to our tax dollars, we want them to display some fiscal responsibility because we don't have millions of dollars to pay in taxes.

If the politicians try to just throw more money at the jobs problem, I believe it will become another issue to motivate voters to seek change come November, 2010...