How Much Power Does He Really Have?

[Treehugger95]

i was thinking, everyone always blames the president for the problems in America, but if you think about it the president cannot do much by himself. The president cant make a war without congress voting, he can hardly do anything without another branch of the government voting on it. That is the purpose of the system of checks and balances, and has anyone thought that mabey a president was just a president at the wrong time or are you trying to tell me that the Great Depression was all Herbert Hoovers fault, and every single thing that happened while someone was in office was his fault. Well next time you want to blame Americas problems on the president, just think, "what did i do when i was the president of the most powerful country on the planet?" Well you never were the president so you have no idea the stress he has to put up with and the world changing decisions he has to make.

Give the president a break, he's only human!

[The Arbiter]

Arbiter <3 Treehugger95.

[Imperial]

The President has an amazing amount of power. Where have you been for the past 150 years? The President doesn't need Congress' approval to go to war. Every military action since the Second World War has been "police action" or other random justification. Bush has demonstrated that not even the threat of cutting funding to the Armed Forces can force a withdrawal. The President appoints his cronies to all the Executive Departments to enforce his will. Look at the Department of Justice, our top law enforcement agency, is filled with Bush ideological supporters, not the most capable or competent. US Attorneys who investigate Republicans are fired by the Attorney General who is a surrogate of the President.

President exercises sizable power over the federal budget, determining what money is spent on what. He determines whose pockets get lined with federal funds and whose are not. He can slash the UN funding and ignore the international community. He can use the armed services to force change across the world or he can use the bully-pulpit here at home to force Congressmen & Congresswoman into signing off. Even a Democratic Congress can't halt a Republican neo-nutjob.

So you have zero reason to sit there & say the President has no power. It may not be what the Founding Fathers intended the Presidency to be, but this is what it has become. The President is the most visible figure of the federal government, and exercises most of its power. And in instances like the Great Depression, a President could have stepped in sooner to provide financial relief to have lessened the impact. A President can't do everything, but he can push the economy in a favorable direction using policies that allow economic growth & stability based on the time period. And he does it all in conjunction with the Federal Reserve, members whom the President appoint.

President has lots of power. Of course there is tons of stress associated with the job. A President can be as hands on or hands off as they choose to be. Some Presidents, like Lincoln, personally supervised the Civil War, while Ronald Reagan delegated to the people who trusted within their respective areas of expertise. Overall, the President has the final word so he has strongest ability to shape his administration through his Cabinet.

[The Corporal]

Imperial's right, the office of the President has a lot more power now than it did in 1789, but it doesn't have it all. Congress has a lot of power as well. Even a handful of people (1-5 representatives or senators) can make enormous changes in policy; this process starts in committees and extends to party leadership. One or two people on the Ways and Means Committee can determine whether a bill even gets looked at, if their party has control of the House or Senate. One person can make an amendment, get it approved by voice vote, and change the entire makeup of a bill so that it no longer represents what it was intended for - how do you think so many earmarks, riders, and pork barrel projects get passed? I firmly believe that problems start with Congress and are either diminished or exacerbated by the actions or inactions of the President. It all really comes down to which party is in control and never comes down to what is best for the American people.

Example: Nancy Pelosi is so terrified that a bill containing language supportive of drilling could actually pass through the House that she would rather take a five week vacation than face the problem. It takes a word from either Pelosi or President Bush to get the lazy bums that pretend to represent the will of the people back to work, but neither will do it - a problem that starts in Congress and is made worse (or at least not fixed) by the President.

[leninrocks244]

I'll give him a break. I'll break his neck in two and liberate our country.

[FreeMason]

For once, I agree with lenin. Although we should probably go with a less violent method, like impeachment (not that that will do much good, seeing as Bush is only in office for another 4 1/2 months). And Imperial is right. The office of president has become much more powerful since the U.S. was founded. The founding fathers would be appalled to see the blatent abuses of power and violations of civil liberties which have been committed by the Bush administration and the fact that Bush has been wiping his ass with the Constitution and Bill of Rights for the past 8 years. Seriously, if the executive branch didn't have so much power, the wiretapping scandal wouldn't have happened (which Bush should have been impeached for). Gitmo would have been shut down by now (another thing Bush should have been impeached for). And even if the executive branch's power was actually being limited to the amount it's supposed to be at according to the Constitution, he still has an incredible amount of influence. If it weren't for that influence, we wouldn't even be in Iraq. Any idiot can go around making up stories about WMDs, but it's not until you give that idiot a podium that people start to listen (the lies about WMDs being yet another reason why Bush should have been impeached). I don't like the Democratic philosophy, but I dislike neo-conservatives even more. And just saying, Clinton nearly got impeached for far less than what Bush has done.

[Treehugger95]

when i wrote this i was not trying to defend the current president, i belive that he has done alot of things wrong, i was simply saying that the president cannot be blamed for every problem that occurrs while he is in office and that history likes to blame the president for the problems in the nation.

[Malcheior Sveth]

when i wrote this i was not trying to defend the current president, i belive that he has done alot of things wrong, i was simply saying that the president cannot be blamed for every problem that occurrs while he is in office and that history likes to blame the president for the problems in the nation.

True, people who just Bush bash don't know anything about the way our government works. It's also Congress's fault :P

[leninrocks244]

For once, I agree with lenin. Although we should probably go with a less violent method, like impeachment (not that that will do much good, seeing as Bush is only in office for another 4 1/2 months)

Fuck that. The fucker deserves to die.