"You complain that the polarization is crippling Bush's ability to fight a "war on terror" as he defines it; I see the polarization crippling our ability to address problems like global warming, poverty, economic recession, job loss and declining income, and on and on. "

"Global warming" is not something most Americans agree is an important issue.

Poverty is a serious global issue in which billions of people suffer, and is best solved by reducing disease, opening up trade, and improving how these government govern their populations.

Economic recessions are part of economic cycle in the past the Fed has been somewhat successful in lessen recessions and preventing larger economic depressions. Government policy of maintaining steady *real* economic growth. lessen booms and bust economic in cycles. High taxes, price controls, and various governmental programs of pumping money into the economy are elements which inhibit *real* economic growth, and thereby result in recessions, depressions, and/or staginflation.
The best way, according to the Fed or anyone who has a clue about economics, to lessen the affects of a future recession is to reduce taxes- particular those taxes which inhibit the use of capitial [such as reducing taxes on capital gain] the way the Fed controls it is by reducing the "cost of money" by lowering the interest rate charged to banks- both reducing taxes and various Fed measures to lessen a a possible future recession increases the amount capital that can used to that *could* be used to increase overall real economic growth.