Insider's Look at Economic Outlook

"Meet the Press" host David Gregory is flanked by Larry Delp (left), executive vice president, Mid-Atlantic Corporate Banking at Sovereign/ Santander, and Rob Wonderling, president/CEO, Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, at an economic forecast breakfast held here.

The former network White House correspondent offered a feast of information last week at the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue in Center City, following a panel discussion of the morning's main topic, addressed by such leading local stalwarts as Bart Blatstein, president of Tower Investments, Inc.; Joe Davis, chief economist of Vanguard; Thomas A. Decker, president and CEO of the law firm of Cozen O'Connor; and Gale Given, president, Verizon Pennsylvania Inc.

It was a given that keynoter Gregory would offer an insider's perspective of where the country is heading economically; the Jewish broadcaster/newsman has built a solid Washington career that belies his 39 years.

In his address, the self-described Dodgers fan expressed concern that dodging hard decisions would plague the American electorate and government if not made. "Change is hard," he acknowledged, and the "burden of change and expectations" has marred the first year of President Barak Obama's tenure.

Gregory has observed a "political mood that is sour," and filled with frustration amid the population.

"There is a sense of an inability to solve the hard problems," as the president and Congress crack heads on health-care reform and job issues.

Still, he added, the "downside is tremendous," he said of any ill fate awaiting the health-care reform bill if government "doesn't deliver something."

So, is deliverance near?

"We'll get something done on health care," he predicted, "and will [most likely] see a jobs bill."

But even the nation's upbeat commander-in-chief has been stymied "by the recognition of the limits of government."

That said, isn't there a limit to how much the populace can take of promises unfulfilled?

After the formal talk, Gregory spent time on other issues. "People have soured so, they've lost faith in the institution," he noted Gregory, whose journalism career got its start with a summer job at a Tucson, Ariz., station 20 years ago.

"There's no trust or affection" for what the government has become, he said, as the people believe that "they are on the outs, wanting to feel more empowered."

What's not new is the role the media is playing in it. "Some of that distrust is fueled by the media," said the American University graduate, who finds crusading journalists on both sides with their own agendas.

And much attention has been paid to the role of cable-news networks and the right-wing pitch of hardball offered up by some stations with viewers at their beck and call. Gregory has heard this before, but dismissed their impact.

"More people watch Brian Willams," the nightly news anchor for NBC, "than the cable shows, and that's [a bigger audience in] in multiples."

Fair Is Fowl?

Fair and balanced ... and causing a ruckus?

"The noise level" raised by the cable-news shows, "is such that it gives them added weight" -- way beyond what they merit, said Gregory.

And they're playing to a crowd that is particularly anti-establishment these days, filled with "people who don't believe in the government."

Once dubbed the "Dancing Man" by W -- Gregory covered President George W. Bush's campaign in 2000 -- does Gregory wonder whether the nation's dance card is filled these days with a fox trot, a slow waltz or ...

"A standstill," he replied. "There is the feeling of a deepening lack of confidence."

Nevertheless, he said that he was confident that the abyss can be filled, that this mood can be readjusted, and that communities are bracing for change.

"There is a sense of tikkun olam, a need for it, [espoused by the] Jewish community but held by others as well, a need by the community to reinvigorate itself, reinforce values, to try and strive to make the world a better place."

An example, he said, can be found in Haitian relief: "When the tragedy needed relief, look how communities turned out to offer all that they did."