What Can/Should a President Do?

[TahoeHorn]

What power does a President have and what do you think he should do?

I am constantly annoyed at the implication, from various sources, that the President is some kind of all-powerful king. In my view he has almost no impact on the short-term economy (he has some impact on short-term confidence and in rare cases on short-term foreign trade), crime, education or energy independence. And shouldn't.

The President has a huge impact on foreign affairs (but not so much on the global economy).

Setting aside political spin what are some of the things you think a President should or should not impact in a material way? Assume that any legislation you want requires the cooperation of the other party even if the President's party controls Congress.

 

[Roger]

well according to the guy on ABC13 here in Houston and the guy that they had responding to the SOTU the president is obviously responsible for each and everyone of us having or not having a job. Dumb TV has a guy who was laid off from a resteraunt whining about the president not worrying enough about the economy because he can't another job in a resteraunt. Guy was a manager and is now out of work...well here is a tip take a job as a waiter at a different resteraunt and if your that good you'll be a manager again in no time.

 

[dognduckhorn]

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[EuroHorn]

In my opinion, a President's biggest impact is his power to appoint Supreme Court Justices. That probably has the biggest direct impact on our day to day lives.

As far as the economy, the stock market, etc., the President has very little power and impact. Many people attribute the performance of the market to a President but that is not really true. Here is an interesting article that discusses this subject.

Link

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[Brubricker]

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[Oilfield]

What is funny right now is Obama talking about what a huge issue we have with unemployment, and the media is soaking it up and running with it. Hey folks, sorry to break this to you, but unemployment is very low right now. What exactly is Obama going to do that would improve it?

 

[dognduckhorn]

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[EuroHorn]

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[TahoeHorn]

dogbduckhorn,

I took great care to specify "short-term". I agree with you on the President's long-term power over the economy. Many of those moves take years to show their full impact.

 

[Praise of Folly]

It's all well and good to talk about appointments to the SEC, Federal Reserve, other federal agencies, even the Supreme Court.

However, the president is essentially reading a script.

Does he/she make the final decision, yeah, sure; but the president is relying on advisors and staff. No person can possibly know enough about every issue to be making informed decisions without quality advisors and staff.

I want a president who is smart enough to surround himself/herself with and employ a variety of people who are specialists in the particular issues.

 

[general35]

One of the most important aspects of a president are the people around him. Bush's greatest weakness was that he was basically clueless about everything. Therefore, he relied greatly upon the people around him for their advice, as it turns out, that turned out badly....i could say the same about the current nominees.

 

[dognduckhorn]

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[roy_batty]

He should be able to make pi an integer. I like 12.

 

[EuroHorn]

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