|
Isn't Obama kind of hampered in what he can and can't do as President though? I don't even pretend to understand the US political system, it seems as byzantine and illogical as my own, but watching from over here I am often surprised at how powerless the President seems as an individual player. Is that the case, or is it just that he hasn;t played the system well enough to be effective?
During the debt ceiling fiasco, people were saying that he should stick to his guns and fight for what it is he stands for, but had he done that then the negotiations would have failed and the US would have defaulted on its bills. There didn't appear to be any mechanism for him to impose a solution.
The Prime Minister is a much more powerful figure in British politics. Similar checks and balances exist, but the PM's capacity for action and executive decision seems much more extensive.
|