The state of the economy is the principal preoccupation of most Americans -- not the end of the Iraq war, not the pursuit of the Afghanistan war, not the prospects of Republicans or Democrats in the midterm elections.

It only makes sense. Too many people are unemployed, underemployed or have given up on finding a job. Many of us know someone who is in a financial mess, whether it be an employment issue or a mortgage default or home foreclosure. The misery and fear are automatically communicated, even without words.

A worrisome part of the problem is the government doesn't seem to know what to do to end the suffering. Making matters worse is that some believe President Barack Obama does not express his emotions on the subject visibly enough. But with his background, intelligence and political sense, does anyone really imagine he does not understand how Americans hurt?

Congressional Republicans don't help either. They pretend that the previous president, of their party, was not responsible for the state of the economy, that his tax cuts for the rich, two wars fought on borrowed money and his lax approach to financial regulation had nothing to do with it. Their blockage of virtually any Obama measure to fix the problem, the latest being the stalled bill to help small businesses, is incredible in its lack of sensitivity to Americans' needs.

There must be a way for the United States to emerge from the recession. Germany found a middle path, somewhere between government intervention and a call for greater productivity. Australia's very small budget deficit, the opposite of America's giant deficit and soaring debt, enabled it to avoid the quicksand. India, by whatever means, showed unbelievable 8.8 percent growth in the second quarter.

America is still looking for a solution. Perhaps after the fall election madness Congress will address the fundamental problem. It is hard to imagine that anyone running for office in America this year could not get the message.

Cartoonist Rob Rogers does "Rob's Rough," an early look at his work and his creative process, exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.