joining us now, bob herbert, contributor to policyshop.net. i tried to call you earlier, but no matter how much i was putting in the -- >> it wasn't connected. >> it was there still but not on the -- i love the idea what mitt romney was doing 20 years ago was putting quarters in the pay phone. >> exactly. if you believe that one -- we're in a weird place right now. >> do you think in this weird place we're in right now there is a ray of sunshine? >> no, no. i don't think the president is going to propose anything big and bold, which is what we need on thursday night, and even if he did, the republicans would not allow it to pass. i think that what we're watching is the early stages of the presidential campaign, so the president is trying to set the republicans up as the do nothing congress, take his fight to the people and hope that, you know, it results in a negative reaction to the republicans. the problem is that this is what he should have done, i think, in the first year, year and a half, of his presidency when the republicans were being

bob herbert is a distinguished senior fellow. bob, specifically, what would you like to hear from the president on thursday? >> the president needs a big program that will inspire the american people. if we're talking about creating millions of jobs, it means it would have to be an enormous infrastructure program. but i think even that would not be enough. we would need a direct government jobs proposal. this, i think, is necessary in the economy that we've got now. but i don't expect anything on that scale. >> i didn't ask you just to stay that to get under stephen moore's skin. but stephen moore is with us. an editorial writer with "the wall street journal. i couldn't have set you up better for that. you say you want the president to end job-killing regulations. i can imagine that you're not thinking of a massive stimulus infrastructure program as the answer you want to hear out of the president on thursday? >> no. in fact, it's interesting, what bob is saying and my sentiments really reflect the division right now between the t

my privilege and honor to introduce the moderator of our panel on jobs and the american dream, bob herbert. bob, of course, is a noted former new york times columnist who never shied away from speaking truth to power, and he's now a senior distinguished fellow at dimos. but he is an incredible voice for the message of dr. king. bob? >> i have the great pleasure this morning to introduce one of my heros, one of my real heros, congressman john lewis, who is one of the most courageous persons the civil rights movement has ever produced. john was the national secretary of the student nonviolent coordinating committee, a big deal when i was a young man, snicc. he came to the march in 1963 from mississippi where snicc was trying to register african-americans to vote. i mean, just think about it; black people without the right to vote in this country. seems bizarre, but it didn't seem bizarre in those days. john lewis literally laid his body on the line for social justice from beatings to freedom rides to sit-ins to lunch -- at lunch counters and beyond. he is, and i just realized this today and

herbert hoover tried. work out real well didn't you put the you know bob that plan hasn't worked i don't care how you came if you don't follow any has kept us from a depression it was them were just interested to hidden obama said of forty two the first and you will be the end of the rational person looks at what numbers we were losing eight hundred thousand jobs a month when he put that was right so we had a nine point one percent i mean headline figure he didn't do it was sort of a one percent growth this year it is not wonderful and you guys want to keep it there though to say with a good set of why doesn't congress passes a bill no no because it's going to destroy the economy this bill know it's allies you're going to hire two million people you can't have ready my god whack jobs it will save or create government jobs because this is on the backs of governments again we're going to bail out the states we're going to have all these programs to rebuild so and we will move on i just want to make this is a punctuation if you have if you want to comment but what i find amazing is that republicans that gove