Do Over

So the President has hit the "reset" button on his Administration and is promoting what the White House calls the "New Foundation" for the next three years. The only problem with building a "new foundation" is that you either have to tear down the house on top of it or lift it up in order to get it built. The President did neither at the State of the Union. But if he is serious, here are my seven best suggestions on how the Obama White House can make the next three years more successful than the first one:

1. Listen to Bill Pascrell More - The White House should be calling "New Jersey's Everyman" once a week at a minimum. Sure they may not always like what they hear from the Congressman who represents New Jersey's Eighth District, but they desperately need to hear the truth and Pascrell knows nothing but ... just like when he told Politico this week that the Democratic Party has become "arrogant."

2. Find Something Else for David Axelrod to Do - If it is Axelrod who is calling the political shots, he has the President shooting from too far away from the basket. He is just not sinking very many from three-point range. Two Presidential long-range jumpers from Copenhagen on the Olympics and Climate Change barely hit the rim. He needs a few layups like a groundbreaking in Michigan, a ribbon cutting in North Carolina and reading to school kids in a place like Camden. Axelrod clearly does not understand that while Chicago may be geographically located in "middle America" its values, and more importantly, its brand of politics, are not representative of the middle of the nation.

3. Sometimes it IS best to simply do it the way we have always done it - The White House clearly miscalculated on both the depth and breadth of the recession and they foolishly believed the nation could spend its way to prosperity. Pick up a history book. Check out the chapters on Kennedy, Reagan and Clinton. There you will learn that the best - and certainly quickest - way out of a recession is to cut taxes - across the board - for everyone. Works every time.

4. If you can't get Olympia Snowe to agree with you, perhaps you should rethink your proposal - The gentle lady Senator from Maine tends to be a soft touch when it comes to policy. If what you are suggesting does not meet with her approval, you might want to reconsider just how far to the left your ideas have gotten. Understand that "bipartisanship" is more than just the other side agreeing with you.

5. Own it - Enough with the "past eight years" already (one of which, by the way, happens to be your's). No one "inherits" the Presidency. This is not Medieval Europe. You don't inherit the throne. Candidates seek the responsibilities of the office and quite frankly, there is never a shortage of those who want it. So you wanted it. You got it. The public has LONG tired of the blame game. You have the ball. See if you can get it in the Red Zone.

6. You are not smarter than me (collectively speaking) - Respectfully, Mr. President, the public is quickly getting the impression that you think you know everything and that the rest of our views do not matter. That is not a good perception for the American people to have. We are a proud bunch. Listen to us a little more. Every once in awhile actually do what we want.

7. It is our money and a lot of us can do simple math - No matter what day, week, month, year, decade or century, folks want you to treat our tax dollars as if they were your own. Treat every dollar as if it were a precious commodity because we think it is. Sure, if a hurricane hits the south or an earthquake a neighbor, go ahead and help out. We want you to. But then get right back to saving every thin dime you can. And when you tell us you are serious and propose a spending freeze that will save us $15 billion NEXT year, but in the very next breath you say you need $120 billion for a new federal jobs program, even the D-minus math student can figure out we just lost $105 billion.