The Problem is not The POTUS, but The GOTUS

Okay, I ought really be shoveling the 4 foot drift blocking my one and only egress from my apartment, but instead I wondered over to Ian’s blog. After reading this post I left this comment.

If Obama were truly a dictator you could lay the blame for the increased income disparity at his feet. However, he has to contend with another branch of the government. A branch of government that has not even allowed him to hire the people he wants to work in his branch of government.

I’m not a rabid Obama supporter; I believe he is wrong about drone use, as well as not getting behind reigning in the NSA fast enough. However, as an American I’d rather it be recognized that more people than Obama are responsible for crafting and implementing the laws in our country. Had Obama had to deal with a progressive, left-leaning congress, perhaps we would be seeing less of an income disparity.

It’s really an irritating habit of people (inside and outside of the US) to speak of President Obama as some sort of all powerful leader when the rules of being the President of the United States were purposefully written to prevent just that from happening. And as the Constitution of the United States was written by imperfect people (hence the “more perfect union” statement), it’s rather dubious to demand that a leader be perfect.

In other words, I’m more interested (and by FSM what I find interesting is to be what you find interesting, or else!) in reading how under our current government income disparity has increased. Much of what caused today’s problems were laid into law long before 2008. In fact, it appears that the stimulus package championed by Obama prevented the worse outcome of previous economic laws from happening.

Granted, it would have been nice if it did more, but Obama worked with the congress he had, not the congress he wanted.

I, for one, am grateful (note the proper spelling SPK*) that we are complaining about a lingering recession and income disparity instead of the depression (or possibly worse) that was on its way due to the incompetence of the previous incarnation of the Government of the United States.

Huh. GOTUS. That’s weird.

This was cross-posted from “The Agonist” where that “inside baseball” dig has more meaning.