What happened to fixing the U.S. economy? The No. 1 issue on the
minds of more than 65 percent of Americans during the recent
presidential campaign was how to create jobs, get people back to
work, and stimulate a new chance at prosperity.  It was the
economy, stupid.  But since President Barack Obama was elected,
the talk in Washington has reverted to: higher taxes,
immigration reform, gun control, women in combat, and even the
fate of the nation's abortion law.  Hey, these might be
important issues, but they're not vital to the nation's longterm
security and solvency.  It's the economy, stupid.  Americans
shouldn't be letting Obama and federal legislators off the hook.
They should be pressing the people's agenda and not falling for
the political brinksmanship that is still paramount in Congress.
It is astounding that as the U.S. unemployment rate remained
grudgingly high at 7.9 percent in December, federal lawmakers
appear content that the figure is a new "normal," that we've
overcome the recession, and thi