Both President Obama and Congress got a D average in a CNN survey of 20 economists, but Obama got many more B's than Congress did.
Some economists felt that Obama and Congress should share the blame for the woeful state of the economy, but a majority felt that Congress should get more blame than Obama because they have blocked every initiative the president has proposed to improve the economy.
Overall, Obama got 3 B's and one F, with the rest B's and C's, while Congress received five F's and 11 D's. Nobody got an A.
Sean Snaith, economics professor at the University of Central Florida, was the only economist to give Obama an F, claiming the administration tried to do too many things at once.
"Pushing too quickly on too many fronts — heath care reform, financial regulatory reform, the housing crisis, fighting the Great Recession — all at the same time has resulted in policies that have failed to adequately address any one of these admittedly very difficult problems," he said.
The economists were brutal in their assessment of Congress, saying politicians were much more interested in scoring political points than helping the economy.
"The recession ended within six months of Obama taking office after massive government stimulus," said Bernard Baumohl of the Economic Outlook Group, who gave Obama a B and Congress an F. "The U.S. banking system is now much healthier; the auto industry survived, is profitable and hiring. The problem is the US economy is being held hostage to a paralytic Congress and the crisis in Europe."
