President and new Congress must focus on the economy

It could be argued that the economy is recovering from last year's recession, but it's an argument that could easily be lost.
Just Friday, the Labor Department announced that wholesale prices in November were down by 0.4 percent from the previous month, the biggest drop since May. That's good news for consumers, but it's going to put pressure on the bottom line for many companies and it's not the kind of news that converts well on Wall Street.
In short, the war on terrorism aside, the biggest challenge facing the Bush administration when the 108th Congress convenes in January will be, yes, the economy.
And there are still a lot of questions about whether the administration has the answers.
Clearly, President Bush took a strong step forward in restoring faith in the securities market by replacing the hapless Harvey L. Pitt as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. With former investment banker William H. Donaldson at the head of the SEC, American investors once again have a reason to believe that the commission is more interested protecting the integrity of the system than in catering to special interests.
Trading O'Neill for Snow
Not so clear is the effect of President Bush replacing former Alcoa chief Paul O'Neill as Treasury secretary with CSX Corp. Chairman John W. Snow.
It's not hard to imagine why Bush felt he had to fire O'Neill, who took straight-talking to a fault. It didn't sit well to hear a man who counts his money in the tens of millions say that Social Security wouldn't be necessary if people would just save enough for their own retirements.
O'Neill was also less than telegenic, and not a very good salesman for the administration's economic policy. His greatest attribute was that he was unafraid to disagree with his boss, even if the boss were the president of the United States.
If President Bush dumped O'Neill for that last reason, he has not done himself or the nation any favors. The president has enough trickle-down disciples whispering in his ear that all that's needed are tax cuts -- more tax cuts, any tax cuts -- to turn this economy around.
If any cuts are needed, they are the kind that help fuel economic growth now -- those that spur companies to make capital improvements and those that go to middle- and lower-income taxpayers who will spend that money.
The president needs economic advisers who will tell him that and who will argue against a policy that blindly adds to annual budget deficits and to the $3 trillion national debt. The last thing he needs are yes-men.