The debt ceiling? Really?
The truth is the economy was in trouble long before Barack Obama became President. The other truth is that he ran promising he would change that.
It is taking far longer than anyone thought it would - the President included.
But the June numbers are not good for Mr. Obama, and you don't have to be a paid political analyst to figure that out. All the declared GOP candidates for President were quick to jump on the barely visible 18,000 jobs that were added last month, and blast Mr. Obama.
Could they have done any better? None of them, they say, would have pushed the nearly $800 billion stimulus plan - and that did add some jobs. So are they saying that by not bailing out Wall Street and two of the big three car companies the economy would have grown?
I'm just askin'.
It's been a mantra for Mr. Obama's supporters that the best thing he's got going is the current and potential field of Republican opponents. But that's just not a good enough reason to win a second term in the White House. And the last two months of weak job growth is simply bad news for the President. It's the economy, stupid. That was James Carville's simple advice to help Bill Clinton win the White House. And despite all he can point to as accomplishments during his tenure, Mr. Obama desperately needs an economic recovery if he hopes to cruise to a second term.
18,000 new jobs a month and an unemployment rate rising to 9.2% won't get that done.
We'll have the latest on the jobs report and the economy, tonight at 11.
Also at 11, we're following the arrests in the brutal beating of a man in Bayonne, New Jersey that we reported last night at 11. A gang of men and women - apparently out for trouble - beat up a young man as he was walking home. Beat him into a coma, and now he's fighting for his life. Three arrests so far today - and cops say there are more to come.
And Nina Pineda tonight has a story that's a lesson for all of us about reading the fine print on your mortgage re-fi agreements. A woman in West Harlem racked up a ton of late fees - because she thought her payment reduction plan had gone into effect earlier than it actually had. She called Nina for help, and got 7 On Your Side.
We'll also have any breaking news of the night, plus Meteorologist Lee Goldberg's AccuWeather forecast which includes some strong storms tonight, and Rob Powers with the night's sports, including the Derek Jeter march to hit number 3,000, which could happen tonight, if the Yankees don't get rained out.
I hope you can join Sade Baderinwa and me, tonight at 11, right after 20/20.
