What's the plan?

As the economy reels, Americans look to their leaders for more than sympathy. Those leaders must rise to the challenge

Inflation is up, the Dow is down. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the federally chartered companies that hold or guarantee about half the mortgages in this country, have lost 80 percent of their value and now are being offered taxpayer money for a bailout -- but that money's limited by a struggling economy and the drain of the war in Iraq.

Even Wachovia Bank is feeling the sharp decline in the mortgage market. Losses by banks nationwide now total something like $400 billion, The New York Times reports -- and counting. And the latest reported increase in consumer prices was the second largest in 26 years.

It's amazing when one considers that the free-market, let-the-chips-fall types in the Bush administration are now speaking freely of bailouts, and government guarantees, in effect, on mortgages and student loans. And while that might be a comfort to some, it probably shouldn't be, except in the short term. What people in this free-enterprise, capitalistic society really want from the government is beyond bailouts -- it's strategy about how the country's economy can be strengthened and rebound while the entrepreneurial spirit is kept alive.

Presidential candidates Sen. John McCain, Republican from Arizona, and Sen. Barack Obama, the Illinois Democrat, now have moved economic issues to the forefront of their campaigns, trying to fashion convincing responses to Americans' worries about housing, fuel and food prices, jobs in jeopardy.

But the White House and Congress, despite flurries of activity that seem driven by desperation, have been generally slow to respond. The "trickle down" of a bad economy feels this time like a waterfall.

President Bush seems to offer little beyond vague platitudes. He recently said the president has no "magic wand." And then: "The bottom line is this: We're going through a tough time, but I believe we will come through this challenge stronger than ever before."

Huh? Hope is one thing, but how can he sound so confident when the economic signs simply get worse and worse?

Here is the real bottom line. Leadership on the economy from this administration has ranged from inept to nonexistent. But toss no bouquets to Congress, either. Like the men and women who advise this president in the West Wing, too many of our representatives and senators seem to have little sense of urgency, even as some of their constituents back home are moving their furniture to the street.

Americans are and always have been willing to sacrifice, to fight their way through hard times and do their part. They were when they were making sacrifices during the Great Depression and through World Wars. That determination and courage is seen every year, when people in one region or another have to recuperate from hurricanes or floods or tornadoes.

But to motivate people, their leaders must know what the problems are, how they are affecting the citizens, and do their part as well -- yes, beyond government money -- to help the people lift themselves and their country out of crisis.

Changing presidents come January is bound to help. Even then, however, a sense of urgency and of the need for action must drive our elected leadership. Opportunity for recovery becomes more difficult as time passes.