This is a representative democracy, not a dictatorship. Mr. Obama has some influence over what the Democrats in Congress propose, but really doesn't control them. His earlier statements in the context of the campaign clearly indicate that he believed he had more control than he really does, but blaming him for what ends up in, or omitted from, legislation indicates a sad lack of understanding of the system. One could easily argue either side of the four items BB has mentioned, although it seems to me that the entire discussion resembles the kind of sour-grapes attitude that the Republican "leadership" has shown in the past few days when it has begun to appear that the president might actually pull a partial win out against their complete stonewalling.