“Stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy.”

That’s President Obama’s challenge to Congress, delivered in the form of his address to the nation on Thursday,

And just what should Congress do?

Pass the American Jobs Act, an expansive package that the president says will spur job growth and put Americans back to work.

His plan calls for an estimated $400 billion in tax cuts, extended unemployment benefits and other measures (such as funding construction projects) all designed to boost job creation and growth.

The problem is, in a nation still reeling from the ineffectiveness of the last massive federal stimulus package, the American Jobs Act in some ways feels like we’re headed down the same path. And as the adage goes, “fool us once, shame on you; fool us twice, shame on us.”

The president is right. We do need to end the political circus. We need our government leaders, from the president to Congress to the political staffers who spin the deals, to stop posturing and putting forth their agendas and instead consider what our economy really needs. That’s incentives for businesses to hire: tax breaks, access to credit and funding, investment in private sector projects (instead of continuing to invest in public sector “shovel-ready” government projects). It’s not extending unemployment benefits (which encourages unemployed to remain, well, unemployed) or growing government through the back door by funding more government projects.

Our nation was built on capitalism. It flourished with a small, centralized government that supported each American’s right to make his or her own future through hard work and commitment.

We need to return to those ideals and refocus on what our country needs today and moving forward.

No more circus, please. Just results.