President Barack Obama made a speech today that was a preview of a speech he'll make on Thursday that, from all indications, will be a repeat of the same speech he's made many times before. Everyone who has paid even the slightest bit of attention has already heard his message for more government spending, more government borrowing and more government regulations. Obviously he is the one not getting the message that more speeches calling for more government is not what's needed and Thursday night may provide the next best opportunity to send it.

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Last month when the White House announced there would be yet another presidential address that would lay out new ideas for job growth and helping the poor and middle class, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) spoke for many Americans when he said, ""We really don’t need another speech - just a plan, like, on paper."

Similar calls for an actual plan with facts and figures that could be fairly evaluated kept on coming. Just yesterday on ABC's This Week, Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) said, "I'm frankly very tired of speeches. I don't want to be disrespectful to the president, but what I want to see is something in writing. If he'll send a written proposal, I'll give it every chance. But I'm not interested in his speech right now."

Of course Mr. Obama's response to requests for a specific written plan instead of more partisan rhetoric was to offer more partisan rhetoric. At his preview-of-the-speech speech today he said, "We're going to see if we've got some straight shooters in Congress. We're going to see if congressional Republicans will put country before party." But in fact, he is asking congressional Republicans (and Democrats) to put his own career before country.

The president is demanding that Congress double-down on his already failed gamble to spend our way out of high unemployment and almost insurmountable debt. With no chance of his old ideas succeeding and no new ideas to offer, his only hope is to foster blame against lawmakers who will not support his doomed schemes. Candidate Obama will argue that they would have worked despite massive evidence to the contrary and will gladly offer up Congress again and again as the culprit for the trillions of wasted dollars, sky high unemployment and virtually every other dismal economic indicator between now and Election Day 2012.

After all there will be no written plan with his name on it submitted as part of the public record. No specific costs or guaranteed benefits to judge. There will only be more empty platitudes, broken promises and partisan accusations echoing through the ether.

Senator DeMint said today that he may not even attend the president's speech on Thursday, "If he sent a written proposal over first, I would go hear him explain it," he said, "But frankly right now I’m so frustrated I don’t think I’m going to go."

Enough empty seats beyond Mr. Obama's teleprompter just might get his attention. Senator DeMint predicts most citizens won't tune in either, "I can’t imagine too many Americans wanting to hear another speech with no real plan attached," he said.

Low television ratings may send a strong message too.