CNN

The president has a hard message to sell: Without aid for banks and Wall Street, we'll all sink, Gloria Borger says.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - In case you hadn't noticed, Americans are having a rough time with the New World Order as it applies to saving the economy.

That is, the ordinary moral instincts we use to guide our daily lives don't seem to apply to economic policy: We can't simply punish the bad guys. Alas, we have to help the bad guys - in order to help ourselves.

For most - angry at the stupidity and profligacy of both Wall Street and the big banks - saving that bunch is not an easy notion to accept. And if you're the president, it's even a harder notion to sell.

People are losing wealth every day. Those close to retirement are putting it off. So are those who want to sell their homes or get a loan. So what's a president to say: You need to root for the bad guys to get back on their feet first?

Well, yes. Someone needs to say it. The president dipped his toe in the treacherous water in his joint address to Congress earlier this month when he allowed, "I know how unpopular it is to be seen as helping banks right now, especially when everyone is suffering in part from their bad decisions. I get it. But I also know that in a time of crisis, we cannot afford to govern out of anger, or yield to the politics of the moment."

Exactly right. But why has the argument stopped there?

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