Since this is an election year, the debate over how to stimulate the economy is inevitably tied up with politics. And here’s a modest suggestion for political reporters. Instead of trying to divine the candidates’ characters by scrutinizing their tone of voice and facial expressions, why not pay attention to what they say about economic policy? (Paul Krugman, Responding to Recession)

Stock markets got off to their worst-ever start this year, which is contributing to the darkening economic mood among voters, reaching an ever growing group of middle class citizens. Americans are more pessimistic about the housing market, the cost of gasoline and even the cost of food.

With plummeting home sales, oil near $100 a barrel, and slowing employment, the current economic environment is perilous for a growing number of Americans.

The unemployment rate jumped from 4.7 percent in November to 5 percent in December, the highest since November 2005 after the Gulf Coast hurricanes dealt the country a mighty blow. Payrolls — both private employers and government — grew by just 18,000 last month, the worst showing since August 2003, when the economy suffered job losses as it struggled to recover from the 2001 recession.

The December employment picture was much weaker than economists were expecting. They were forecasting the unemployment rate to bump up to 4.8 percent and for employers to add around 70,000 jobs to their payrolls. (Jobless Rate Hits 5 Percent, 2-Year High)

ABC/Facebook polls showed that "the economy" is foremost on voters' minds.

A new Washington Post-ABC News Poll this week shows that voters are the most concerned about the economy.

Nearly eight in 10 now think the country is "pretty seriously" off track. Two-thirds feel "strongly" that the next president should take the country in a different direction, and negative views of the Bush administration and the economy threaten to transform the presidential race.

In the new national poll, the economy-and-jobs issue ranks first for voters in each party, and majorities in each are pessimistic about the direction of the country, although there is a significant partisan divide. More than nine in 10 Democrats and eight in 10 independents see the country as on the wrong track; 51 percent of Republicans agree.

Now, 53 percent of Republicans want the next president to chart a new path; nearly three-quarters of independents feel "strongly" about it. Among Republicans who see the economy as a major voting issue, nearly two-thirds want a new direction.

When asked about their biggest financial concerns, 24 percent highlighted health-care costs, 23 percent mentioned inflation or rising prices generally, 16 percent specified gasoline prices, and 12 percent cited high taxes.

A surge in mortgage defaults is expanding the inventory of unsold homes and contributing to the decline in housing demand. The number of new foreclosures rose to a record in the third quarter and the number of Americans who fell behind on their mortgage payments rose to a 20-year high, MBA said last month. (Home sales seen bottoming)

The very newest Reuters/Zogby poll released just yesterday showed that barely more than one in five gave President George W. Bush's administration high marks for economic policy, and many voters thought they would be better off financially with a Democrat in the White House.

Some 47.5 percent of those surveyed think a recession is likely in the next year, up from 43.4 percent in the previous month's survey.

For the first time since the recession question was added to the monthly poll in September, more people said a recession was likely than unlikely.

Many economists think the U.S. economy is in or near a recession as the housing market downturn, tightening credit conditions, and steep food and energy costs drag down consumer and corporate spending. (Economic worries grow among voters)

My suggestion?

Vote for a candidate, like John Edwards (my personal favorite), who is not living on Pluto, who studies the economy and has made fixing the economy his number one goal.

John Edwards stands out in the crowd. He has always emphasized the importance of the middle class which is one of the many reasons why labor unions have given him so much support and endorsement. For example, he recently unveiled a stimulus plan grounded in detail and common sense.

A good stimulus plan should adhere to four principles:

• stem the decline of home values,
• ensure the stimulus contains immediate impact,
• target the benefit to those recipients most likely to spend it, and
• strengthen the economy in short-term ways that inure to America's long-term economic benefit.

By contrast, Republican candidates Mitt Romney, John McCain, and Rudy Giuliani seem to want the "free market" to continue to self-manage itself. What? Again, what planets are they from?

Sen. John McCain acknowledges, "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should. I’ve got Greenspan’s book.”

On the Democratic side, John Edwards, although never the front-runner, has been driving his party’s policy agenda. He’s done it again on economic stimulus: last month, before the economic consensus turned as negative as it now has, he proposed a stimulus package including aid to unemployed workers, aid to cash-strapped state and local governments, public investment in alternative energy, and other measures...

The Obama campaign’s initial response to the latest wave of bad economic news was, I’m sorry to say, disreputable: Mr. Obama’s top economic adviser claimed that the long-term tax-cut plan the candidate announced months ago is just what we need to keep the slump from “morphing into a drastic decline in consumer spending.” Hmm: claiming that the candidate is all-seeing, and that a tax cut originally proposed for other reasons is also a recession-fighting measure — doesn’t that sound familiar?

Anyway, on Sunday Mr. Obama came out with a real stimulus plan. As was the case with his health care plan, which fell short of universal coverage, his stimulus proposal is similar to those of the other Democratic candidates, but tilted to the right.

For example, the Obama plan appears to contain none of the alternative energy initiatives that are in both the Edwards and Clinton proposals, and emphasizes across-the-board tax cuts over both aid to the hardest-hit families and help for state and local governments. I know that Mr. Obama’s supporters hate to hear this, but he really is less progressive than his rivals on matters of domestic policy.

In short, the stimulus debate offers a pretty good portrait of the men and woman who would be president. And I haven’t said a word about their hairstyles. (Paul Krugman, Responding to Recession)

No matter who you vote for, please do not vote for any candidate from Pluto, like McCain or Romney. Those guys are in deep denial.

Vote for senators, representatives and presidential candidates that know the middle class is hurting - and, ones who intend to make it their highest priority to address the problem quickly. Ask them for specifics and expect them to speak in detail.

Now is not the time for broad brush "feel good" generalities.

Now is the time for concrete action-oriented leadership by people who have demonstrated their commitment to the middle class.