The president announced a new commission on job creation. This commission, to be chaired by GE CEO Jeff Immelt, replaces an existing commission headed by former Fed Chief Paul Volker. Any commitment by the White House to focus on private sector job creation is certainly welcome, and Mr. Immelt’s initial statement about the importance of innovation is right on. American businesses continue to need to allocate significant resources to innovation, whatever sector of the economy they are in.

But the key is to watch what authority the commission has to actually help set White House policy. Now that the stake is in the ground, we must monitor what steps are actually taken to implement this initiative.

We applaud the White House and thank Mr. Immelt, who already has a very full plate, for accepting this very important assignment. Now let’s see them get to work putting Americans back to work.