I don’t know what history and economics you’ve been reading, but there is plenty of evidence that the President and Congress can affect the economy. Almost all such affects have been negative.

The evidence is strong that:

1. Every implementation of high tariffs hurt consumers and the economy.*

2. Roosevelt’s policies worsened and extended the Great Depression.*

3. Rationing and manufacturing wage freezes during World War II adversely affected the economy. The latter resulted in workplaces introducing non-wage benefits such as health insurance (which paved the way for Medicaid and Medicare two decades later).*

4. Johnson’s “Great Society” put us on the road towards a social welfare state that is bankrupting us today.

5. Nixon’s wage and price controls had adverse affects on the economy.*

6. Clinton’s establishment of quasi-governmental organizations designed to promote home purchases among those with marginal credit contributed to the housing bubble. We’re still feeling the effects of that burst bubble.

7. Bush’s expansion of Medicare worsened current and future federal deficits.

8. Bush’s and Obama’s bailouts of banks, financial institutions, auto makers, etc. were detrimental to the economy and set bad precedents.*

9. ObamaCare, EPA regulations gone wild, artificial lowering of interest rates, a plethora of new regulations and restrictions on many types of businesses, big increases in unemployment taxes, etc. have prevented an economic recovery and contribute to high unemployment because businesses are afraid to expand and hire.*

* These actions rapidly generated adverse affects.

I’m not a single-issue voter. However, all other things being equal, I would not vote for politicians who supported actions that harmed the economy.

On the issue of democracy, I agree that it is a mediocre system of government. My dream government would have a libertarian constitution and be headed by a benevolent dictator (who could be removed by a super-majority of voters) with a very restricted budget.