(Not the best picture of Barry but it will do……)
….So of course as a self-admitted and publicly obvious Obama fanatic and Reagan dissaprover (ignore my use of something that is not a word), this caught my eye and really made me pose the question that was heading the cartoon in my head "How does a president's view of government affect public policy?" This brings us to the topic of Progressive Federalism (YAY DEFINITIONS) which is the movement that gives state officials significant leeway in acting on issues normally considered national in scope, such as the environment and consumer protection.
The answer to the question is simple but even as a Obama-er is somewhat astonishing…a president's view of government has A LOT to do with public policy! The reason why this is even somewhat disturbing has nothing to do with Democrats or Republicans or Libertarians or anybody… it has to do with the way our system is formatted.
Although we have a seperation of powers that is supposed to keep all the powers in check, who the president is and what their viewpoints are, has much to do with how public policy will be run although they are not the ones making the laws. This is due to their positions as figure heads.
Of course the word figure head is loosely used in this sense because it is nothing like the way my darling Russian government is run …….
But of course, in this day and age, the President does have a lot more influence than the framers probably intended them to do so.
But of course, there is nothing wrong with either more or less government, it is more on how it is run. I mean under the Obama administration as the book states, California and other states have been allowed to impose stricter limits on greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks than those established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA OR DIE!!!), so although there may be backlash from auto companies we are taking care of our mother Earth a little bit more!
Going back to the Reagan era, our former Mister President went on to famously say " this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden." A viewpoint he supported in many of his policies such as his tax cuts including cutting the top individual tax rate from 70 percent to 28 percent and the corporate rate from 46 percent to 34 percent. Tax cuts like these and small government policies are standpoints that continue to this day to make Reagan the quintessential Republican that most Republican politicians aspire to be.
But…….there is no way we can discuss how public policy is affected by a president's view without mentioning not one person, but an entire party whose mantra speaks screams sings and cries small government…the Libertarian party. A libertarian is one who believes in limited government and no governmental interference in personal liberties. Although currently the race to the average viewer of CNN may be all about Willard and Barack, there is another man who has publicized the party very much in the 2012 election, Ron Paul. BUT, what many of those Paul-fanatics don't realize (a term that probably isn't appropriate now that Paul Ryan is the VP nominee for the Republican party) is that Gary Johnson is actually running on the ticket. If Gary Johnson won the presidential race, his public policy's would mirror the image of less is more, in terms of government. What is different though is that his cuts would come from places like 43% less funding for military expenditures.
Although it is the textbook poses the question "How does a president's view of government affect public policy?", the answer can be better found in the current events.
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