Obama and April-June

The current calendar quarter, so political analysis says, is key to Barack Obama's reelection. It's nothing special about Obama, but that the second quarter, fourth year, of a president's term is the matter of focus for voters.

And why? Especially if an economy is struggling, and there's a first-term incumbent in the White House, the opposition's candidates are generally (this year being somewhat an exception) talking about said economy in the primaries. Which means the president has to be either engaging in actual economic stimulus, or the appearance of doing so, while also "managing expectations."

So, file Obama's signing of the craptacular JOBS Act, guaranteed to open the doors for new orgies of destabilizing speculation, under the "appearances" theme. Look for other stuff under either appearances or "managing expectations," since the GOP in the House won't do anything and the GOP in the Senate will filibuster.

Of course, Obama is too weak-kneed to do a Harry Truman and call Congress into special session, and Harry Reid is too weak-kneed to force Senate Republicans to engage in an actual filibuster.

So, when you ask how our government got this dysfunctional, it's not just that Republicans made it happen. Democrats let it happen.

Meanwhile, 2.5 months of White House economic PR ahead.