Why Do We Blame the President for Economic Crisis?

[Thumpalumpacus]

People blame the president because they like scapegoats.

[Wyrd of Gawd]

Presidents can take steps to influence the cycle.  Clinton not only balanced the federal budget he left it with a huge surplus.  Bush the Shithead came along, gave a big tax cut to his rich-bitch buddies and then started two wars without figuring out how to pay for them.  Bye-bye surplus, hello deficits.

Most presidents do nothing either so positive or negative and are simply borne along by the currents.

Historically the Repubs are the primary reason we have a large national debt and deficits.  After the Civil War the Dems wanted to pay off the war debt by increasing taxes.  The Repubs said screw that because the federal government could borrow money per the Constitution.  And since the Repubs were in the majority they borrowed the money and Congress has never been able to pay off the national debt.  That's not necessarily a bad thing because the government still gets every penny it wants.  Rich people and foreign governments help fund the government by loaning it money.  That reduces taxes for the average John & Jane.  So the average person ends up with more money in his pocket.  

It would be a real pain if we went on a plan to pay off the national debt and operate without any borrowing.   The deficit is just the difference between the tax revenue and what's needed and it's the amount that's borrowed.  As long as the government can borrow money there isn't any problem.  The national debt could grow to $900 Trillion without any adverse effects.   The interest payment would be huge but as long as things stayed in the current ratio it wouldn't be that big of a deal.  And when the crap hits the fan the government can simply say "Too bad, so sad".

[Wyrd of Gawd]

People blame the president because they like scapegoats.

They are able to blame the President because Congress dumped its Constitutional duty of managing the budget onto the President in the 1920s.

[Wyrd of Gawd]

Presidents can take steps to influence the cycle.  Clinton not only balanced the federal budget he left it with a huge surplus.  Bush the Shithead came along, gave a big tax cut to his rich-bitch buddies and then started two wars without figuring out how to pay for them.  Bye-bye surplus, hello deficits.

Most presidents do nothing either so positive or negative and are simply borne along by the currents.

Bush was simply following what Calvin Coolidge did in the 1920s.  When there's a surplus you reduce taxes.  http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index....udget&st1=

"TAX REDUCTION"

The section is too long to post but it should be read to understand national tax policy.

[Fidel_Castronaut]

It's economics 101 that markets are cyclical. The concentration on the word 'growth' can exacerbate both peaks and troughs in the cycle too, as can the fact that the world is now a truky global marketplace. Markets are interdependent on one another, so a faulted anywhere in the chain can cause ripples.

There are certainly things executive can do to promote growth or stymie recessions though.

It's a most curious paradox in economics that people forever have desired to foster greater cooperation and trade with other nations, but at the same this has exposed the need for greater self-reliance in terms of several sectors including food and utilities.

[Minimalist]

How many wars did Coolidge start?

[abaris]

Let's make this short and sweet. Obama's an uppity nigger. And certain people take issue with that. Outside of Clinton's blowjob issues, I've never seen that much bile directed at any president. Not even the chimp.

[The Grand Nudger]

@OP Q.  Because that is precisely why we have a singular talking head atop our government.  He's the face of the machine.

[Brian37]

Yeah....the joys of unfettered capitalism.

Mainly joyful for unfettered capitalists and fuck everyone else.

You will never get rid of capitalism. There is not one country, friend of foe, that does not invest in the global market. But you can, at least in the west do a better job of not letting it go off the rails.

[Wyrd of Gawd]

How many wars did Coolidge start?

Coolidge didn't start any because there was no one to fight at that time.  Besides, there's nothing "wrong" with borrowing money to fight a war.  It's been that way in America since the Revolutionary War.