If President Obama’s economic recovery continues apace, and his re-election prospects grow along with it, it won’t be because Congress went out of its way to help. As we noted Tuesday, Obama’s economy has benefitted from less of Washington’s largesse than did crypto-Keynesian Ronald Reagan’s. But this is actually part of a broader pattern. Recently, Republican presidents have benefited from accommodating Congress during times of economic weakness, while Democratic Presidents Clinton and Obama watched Congress suddenly grow stingy under their watch.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=100585