Thank you for this Martha! It's so important right now for people to understand this. So many people seem to think that Presidents are all-powerful, like gods. Maybe that's due to the absence of Civics classes in high school? Combined, of course, with the presence of fantastically ignorant reporting and commentary in the media.
Thank you, Lee. And I think also due to 40+ years of Republican underfunding of public education, and a failure to teach critical thinking skills in K-12. So of course, no presidential candidate is going to tell the public that the Executive, Congressional, and Judiciary each have limited powers to regulate trade - and that includes will power.
Martha, I'm glad you wrote this. But I have a slightly better opinion of Presidential powers; let's do compare and contrast between a President who wants to lower grocery prices and one who doesn't. Presidents and their administrations and their appointees to regulatory agencies have tools they can use, for example against mergers of giants that create a monopoly effect. But it takes an executive who wills interventions and puts people in place to do the work. That, plus Democratic majorities in Congress, can help keep food affordable.
Thank you for this Martha! It's so important right now for people to understand this. So many people seem to think that Presidents are all-powerful, like gods. Maybe that's due to the absence of Civics classes in high school? Combined, of course, with the presence of fantastically ignorant reporting and commentary in the media.
Thank you, Lee. And I think also due to 40+ years of Republican underfunding of public education, and a failure to teach critical thinking skills in K-12. So of course, no presidential candidate is going to tell the public that the Executive, Congressional, and Judiciary each have limited powers to regulate trade - and that includes will power.
Martha, I'm glad you wrote this. But I have a slightly better opinion of Presidential powers; let's do compare and contrast between a President who wants to lower grocery prices and one who doesn't. Presidents and their administrations and their appointees to regulatory agencies have tools they can use, for example against mergers of giants that create a monopoly effect. But it takes an executive who wills interventions and puts people in place to do the work. That, plus Democratic majorities in Congress, can help keep food affordable.