The carnage on 9/11 distracted Americans from an economic downturn and serious corporate and financial scandals, such as the collapse of Enron and WorldCom. Something was profoundly wrong with the structure of business and finance. Yet there was only a cursory response, a few new laws and prosecution of some corporate outlaws. Why?

The 9/11 attacks left many Americans fearful. President Bush was able to convince the nation to support a pre-emptive war against Iraq, with no proof of an Iraqi connection to 9/11. Talk of economic reform faded, yet fundamental problems festered. And, a housing bubble grew.

But fear of terrorists trumped all. Moreover, deregulation and laissez faire economic policies were ascendant in the Bush administration and embraced by the Federal Reserve and the then GOP-led Congress with Democratic support. Meanwhile the economy was beginning to go over the cliff.

The housing bubble burst. Soon the façade of creditworthiness, profitability and stability collapsed on Wall Street.

The nation is in a severe recession with rising unemployment. More than 500,000 jobs were lost in November and 1.9 million jobs have disappeared since the recession began last year. The downturn has cost 604,000 manufacturing jobs, with Wisconsin losing 100,000 since 1998.

Income distribution looks like the 1920s, and, one in 10 mortgages is now delinquent or in foreclosure. The economy is flatlining. What to do?

Wisconsin Democratic U.S. Rep. Dave Obey, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, will play a critical role in working with President George W. Bush and President-elect Barack Obama.

Obey understands that New Deal reforms such as federal insurance of bank deposits helped prevent a greater catastrophe. And he knows more is needed.

At a recent congressional hearing on the recession, Obey said: â??Before itâ??s over, this recession seems destined to become the worst since the early 1980s, if not the 1930s.

â??Even many conservative economists, who typically advise Congress to leave it to the Federal Reserve to respond to a recession, are now advising Congress to shore up the economy with more spending.

â??Federal government spending appears to be about â??the only game in townâ?? to provide lift to the economy.â??

Obey will help put together economic recovery legislation with bipartisan support to pass Congress and send to President Obama after he takes office. It will be â??a major infrastructure package to help create jobs and, literally, prepare the road for future growth.â?? Obey also hopes to help the elderly, disabled, sick and poor.

Finally, Obey has not forgotten the lessons of history. He along with fellow Wisconsin Democrats Rep. Tammy Baldwin and Sen. Russ Feingold fought the 1999 repeal of the New Deal Glass-Steagall Act, which separated Wall Street investment banks with risky securities from main street banks.

Repeal allowed big to get bigger and harder to regulate. Now taxpayers are bailing out Citigroup.

Kaplan, a UW graduate, lives in suburban Washington, D.C.