Peter Schweizer of the Hoover Institute does not mince words:

The mantra on the left over the past eight years has focused on the lack of competence in the Bush administration. Whether criticizing the Iraq War, the response to Hurricane Katrina or the economic crisis that exploded in 2008, the liberal conceit has been that conservatives don’t know how to govern — so put us in charge instead.

It is easy to sit on the sidelines and attack, or so many Democrats are now finding out. No one is expecting immediate results from the Obama administration on the economy; that would be blatantly unfair. But is it too much to expect some consistent plan of action?

With this gang, that might be asking for too much.

And he’s got a point: the lack of Treasury staff and a viable bank plan, a revolving door of policy feints on unrelated topics, mixed messages on spending restraint and profligacy, and all the chatter about of tax hikes have sent the markets “tumbling because they have no clear idea of the path that the administration plans on taking us.” Or as Jack Welch hollered in less restrained terms:

This guy is locked in another world. And he’s throwing all these initiatives into this game in the middle of a crisis. Focus on the crisis! Focus on the economy!

But fixing the economy is the hard part and doesn’t necessarily lend itself to self-aggrandizing summits or campaign-type events. Of course, it presupposes that the private sector must be the source of recovery instead of the whipping boy for the Left. So you can see why Obama would rather focus on other things.