Quote:
Originally Posted by UGAalum94
I'm not a Bush fan, but please, do you even understand how government in the US works? Only one of the three things you've listed really has anything to do with the executive branch. (ETA: Well, I guess they have something to do with the executive branch, but it's hard to see why they wouldn't really be something congress ought to address, seeing as Congress makes laws and all. )
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I don't think she's the one who doesn't understand how the US government works.
The President is the focal point of foreign relations and (unfortunately, in Bush's case) the "mouthpiece" of the US that other nations hear. The President's "interests" (big oil, the gun lobby, anti-everything groups) have, through him, unparalleled levels of access to power brokers around DC.
The President also appoints the head of each federal agency (so, the head of FEMA, for instance -- that would have a direct impact on that agency, its direction and its functioning)
Anyone who doesn't think (or doesn't know) that the bureaucracy creates and puts into play as many, if not more, policies than the Congress is believing what they're told and feeding the blindness most have about the system. Google books related to the bureaucracy and policy- or law-making to learn about what's sometimes referred to as the "4th branch of government." THAT, to me, is the most powerful part of who gets the top office. Sure, Supreme Court appointments are big, but they're out in the open. Everyone can follow Congress on C-Span all day. But who really tracks what's happening in the bowels of the Departments of Energy, Education, Labor, everyday? The # of political appointments in these organizations is astounding. And the effect these political appointments have on US policy is staggering. And for the most part, goes unnoticed and unchecked.
The Executive Branch is not just a 2-person + White House staff turnover. The tentacles go much, much deeper in the system. And this current bunch in DC definitely need their roots dug up and their tainted soil needs much tilling, IMO.
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