I hate to say it but Bush did have some efficient tactics. The problem was he abused the powers. The two powers that I think Obama needs to start reenacting are recess appointments and signing statements.
Recess appointments are appointments to posts done during a senate recess. Some positions in the government need to be vetted and voted on by the senate. If the senate is taking too long, and in order to keep government running, the president can appoint a person to a position if the senate is in recess. Like next weekend during presidents day weekend. Bush did this all the time circumventing the senate. Obama has not been doing this trying to respect the senate. The problem is that many government positions have yet to be filled. He needs to do this because the repubs are so vile in their obstructionism that one senator Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) has put a blanket hold (preventing an appointee from being voted on) on ALL of Obama's appointees. Nothing is getting filled putting the U.S. more at risk
The other power needing to be reinstated is signing statements. Signing statements are done when a President signs a bill into law. They are statements that say that a president will ignore the law he's signing or they will enforce part of the law but ignore another part. The controversy during the Bush years was that he was hell bent on making a grotesquely powerful executive branch and anything that might have been construed as limiting Bush's power, Bush ignored it with a signing statement. Now, Obama appears to reversed course, limiting the power of the executive branch. Now, with our economy, job losses, and banking problems, we need some signing statements giving him more power to get the job done.
Obama needs to start bullying some people to get things done. While a lot has been done over the past year, the public doesn't see it. All the public sees is jobs being lost and houses be foreclosed on.
