To apply Jeremiah (8:20) to the stimulus, “The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.”

Instead of trying something new, the president clings to the same old strategy: borrow more money, call it stimulus, and direct it at things that he hopes will create jobs. But there’s a problem: Millions of Americans in business simply do not trust or like this administration. It has talked and talked, and the private sector has listened and listened — and finally made up its mind.

Business anger is rooted in both reality (the upcoming tax increases, greater regulation, the increased costs per worker thanks to federalized health care, etc.) and rhetoric (the constant bashing of business and the wealthy, the 2008 campaign rhetoric about “spread the wealth” and “downright mean country,” etc.). The result is that, for many, it now looks like the time to draw in one’s horns, hoard cash, and wait for the November elections — which, they hope, will bring a new, sober Congress that can stop the redistributive Obama agenda. Thus the anemic, so-so “recovery.”

Oddly, the best thing that could happen for Obama is a Republican takeover of Congress. He could play wounded fawn to his base, damning “them” for standing in the way of his progressive puritanism, while privately heaving a sigh of relief that the budget-cutting conservatives are taking the heat and slashing out-of-control spending.

In such a scenario, 2012 might look sort of surreal. Unlike the President Clinton of 1995, who actively triangulated, Obama could rail against the heartless opposition, refusing to compromise with them, and hope that their heartless dirty work will lead to a genuine recovery for which he can then take the credit.

In that sense, congressional Democrats should be afraid that, right now, they are the expendables who block an Obama recovery. Once 50 or so House Democrats are out of the way, and perhaps nine or ten senators as well, their noble sacrifice may well lead to the president’s salvation.