Dems suddenly find they have no good options on the economy

The few things that might pass Congress — such as a payroll tax holiday or extended research-and-development tax credits — won’t work, or at least not before November’s midterm elections, when Democrats face potentially devastating losses.

And the few things that might work — such as an aggressive new infrastructure spending bill — can’t pass, uniformly viewed as politically impossible at a time of trillion-dollar-plus deficits…

“From a political standpoint it really doesn’t matter what the president says or does on the economy between now and Election Day,” said William Galston, a Brookings Institution scholar who served in the Clinton White House. “There is not enough time to do anything significant and not enough time to move the needle of public opinion.”