President Barack Obama greets business leaders at the close of the Jobs and Economic Growth Forum , Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Despite the hoopla that preceded the Afghanistan speech and the second-guessing that followed, the Afghanistan policy will not be nearly as politically consequential in the short term as the president's plan for new job growth.

The West Point speech underscored, once again, Obama's superior talents in setting an agenda. As complicated and contradictory as the speech was, one came away thinking that we had a plan in Afghanistan; the discussion about whether it will work will drag on interminably, but at least there is something to debate. So where is the president's jobs agenda?

The New York...