The Waiting is the Hardest Part

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I know Barack Obama has been president for less than a month. And I guess it may be one of the most frustrating aspects of the presidency that a president can't just snap his fingers and immediately enact policies he would like to enact.

George W. Bush, as discredited as he was at the time his presidency came to an end, once observed that "things would be a heckuva lot easier" if this were a dictatorship. No doubt Hitler and Stalin would agree with him.

Normally, I'm grateful for the deliberative aspects of a democracy — but the time that can be consumed certainly can be problematic. And these days, people can get antsy, if not downright impatient.

That's something I completely understand. I, like millions of others, have found myself in between jobs in recent months. My life has been disrupted, as Obama has said in a general reference to the millions who have lost their jobs in the last year. That's certainly a literate way to put it, but, nevertheless, I can feel a sense of panic creeping in around the edges more and more frequently as the days go by.

I know it's hard for me — and people like me — to be patient. I also know that these things take time.

But I feel frustrated when I see politicians and bloggers treating it like business as usual.

For me, it isn't business as usual. I often have the feeling that time is running out.

This is the kind of situation that politicians love, perhaps secretly, if they happen to have a way with words — and ways to use it to their advantage.

When I was in college, I remember Ronald Reagan, who was running against President Carter, said, "Depression is when you're out of work. A recession is when your neighbor's out of work. Recovery is when Carter's out of work."

Funny, huh? Not so funny if you were one of the ones who was out of work.

I had much the same feeling when Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson bragged about the alleged virtues of the compromise of the economic stimulus package in the Senate. "We trimmed the fat, fried the bacon and milked the sacred cows," he said.

Then, when congressional leaders resolved the differences between the House and Senate versions, creating a package that was supposed to create even more jobs than the original, Nelson had another one-liner.

"Call us the jobs squad," Nelson said.

Barack Obama signed the package into law today. Originally, Obama was going to sign it into law yesterday, on Presidents' Day. But it was postponed until today. I haven't heard any clever comments about why.

Today, Obama said the package "mark[s] the beginning of the end — the beginning of what we need to do to create jobs for Americans scrambling in the wake of layoffs; to provide relief for families worried they won't be able to pay next month's bills; and to set our economy on a firmer foundation." More nice words.

But, as my mother used to say, actions speak louder than words.

Well, I guess it qualifies as a victory, although not a bipartisan one. Nearly every Republican in Congress voted against it.

Tell you what, Sen. Nelson. I'll be happy to call you and your colleagues "the jobs squad" — just as soon as I get a job and I have somewhere to go in the morning.

Until then, it's all words to me.

My guess is that several million Americans probably feel the same way.