Short-term pain trumps long-term gain.

This is what the Obama administration failed to understand last year. When people are out of a job and can’t provide for their family, they need immediate solutions to ease the pain. They don’t care that much about what’s coming down the road. President Obama, after bailing out the bankers, devoted his efforts to solving the health care problem, which will be a big problem in the future, but not now. He needs to concentrate on the economy so that people can get back to work before he tackles health care reform.