This week as families gather for Thanksgiving, too many will be saying prayers more in desperation than celebration.

President Obama has called for a jobs summit next month. That summit should have only one purpose: to make the creation of jobs the president's first focus.

Unemployment has soared above 10 percent, but that figure doesn't count those forced to work part-time, those who have given up in despair, young people who were never able to get hired. There are now 25 million people unemployed.

It is time for the Congress to act on health care. Legislators should stiffen their spines and pass the bill. The legislation produced by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House leadership has many critics. Progressives are dismayed at its weak public option. Conservatives rail against paying for it with tax hikes for those earning over $500,000 a year. Many of us worry whether the health insurance that people are mandated to buy will be affordable for working families.

'Enough is enough." "Bust up the big banks." "Too big to fail is too big to exist." All of this and more can be heard this week at the American Bankers Association. ABA conferences are usually pretty buttoned-down events. They feature seminars on investment strategies, young bankers exchanging cards and hoping to make contacts, and reports on lobbying and legislation.